Darth_Tater's 40 Breeder

[Darth_Tater]

I'm moving my tank journal over to the "Tank Journals & Builds" section since I noticed the other day that it exists. The beginning of the journey is here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2484865

I guess I'll show a few pictures of the algae mess. Dirty glass and all!

FTS:



Red Spot Glass Cardinals. I really like these guys!


Some corals are still hanging on, if just barely.






They do better if I can keep them away from the algae.


And my favorite: The algae eating snail covered in algae.


In completely unrelated news, it's alive! Got the old Buick running this week and I'm pretty excited:


Anyways, I've got the GFO reactor running now and will continue to do 20% water changes twice a week for a while. Hopefully that will help with the algae.

[Bogue Chitto]

You do have an algae problem, I hope the GFO and water changes help. Also check your nitrates.

[chimmike]

yep, GFO and toothbrush to scrub it loose then hand remove!

[sixpackgarage]

buick FTW. also a lawnmower blenny will keep that in check.

[Darth_Tater]

Originally Posted by Bogue Chitto

You do have an algae problem, I hope the GFO and water changes help. Also check your nitrates.

No kidding! Believe it or not there used to be rocks in there. I just double checked nitrates this morning and they still read undetectable. It's working too, because my freshwater tank unsurprisingly was off the charts.

Originally Posted by chimmike

yep, GFO and toothbrush to scrub it loose then hand remove!

I remove as much as I can every week. That's the growth since last Saturday.

I'm just going to try to be patient and see how it goes. I may get a juvenile Bristletooth tang if I can find one, but I don't think it will make that much of an impact.

[Darth_Tater]

Originally Posted by sixpackgarage

buick FTW. also a lawnmower blenny will keep that in check.

This car is awesome! I was going to turbo it, but then realized it would be cheaper to get a crate LS3. Either way, the goal was 11 second quarter mile. I don't know if I can save money for that long though... And I'd rather not get a blenny. I had a combtooth blenny for a while and it ate more of my Birdsnest corals than algae. And it forced my Yellow Watchman Goby into hiding. It wouldn't even come out to eat. Thanks for the suggestion though!

[sixpackgarage]

Originally Posted by Darth_Tater

This car is awesome! I was going to turbo it, but then realized it would be cheaper to get a crate LS3. Either way, the goal was 11 second quarter mile. I don't know if I can save money for that long though... And I'd rather not get a blenny. I had a combtooth blenny for a while and it ate more of my Birdsnest corals than algae. And it forced my Yellow Watchman Goby into hiding. It wouldn't even come out to eat. Thanks for the suggestion though!

LS3 will definitely be cheaper than a nice turbo setup, but 11's is a lot to ask of a big heavy car with just an LS motor..

And bro, a lawnmower will not eat corals.

[Devaji108]

tank has alot of potential.
my thoughts for the GHA is this prob. doing alot of these )
check your levels get in under control.
find why they are so high fix it...haha
everyday manually remove as much as you can. = nutrient export
lower lighting cycle
continue your water changes
set up an algae turf scrubber or algae reactor ( look in the DIY section there a great build on the alage reactor and the are lots of info on ATS as well)

good luck my friend

[Bogue Chitto]

Darth, the reason nitrates are testing so low is because the algae is consuming them, you still have nitrate problems. Take as much hair algae out as you can and then read the test for nitrate again after a couple of days.

[Darth_Tater]

Well, I just changed my DI resin. The old one was probably way too old, especially considering it was slimy. Hopefully this will help with the algae too.

Originally Posted by sixpackgarage

LS3 will definitely be cheaper than a nice turbo setup, but 11's is a lot to ask of a big heavy car with just an LS motor.

I've read articles about the Grand Nationals doing about 11 seconds with 500 flywheel HP. This car really isn't that heavy. It's nearly 1000 lbs lighter than a new Challenger. 500 HP out of an LS3 is pretty easy. But I'm still not sure what the future is for the car. I may just drive it around town since it gets better fuel mileage than my pickup.

Originally Posted by sixpackgarage

And bro, a lawnmower will not eat corals.

I'm not really worried about it eating algae, I'm more worried about losing my Goby. I really like the Goby and would choose it over a new fish. I've thought about trying to find a mate for it, but I have no clue how to tell the difference between male and female Watchman Gobies.

[Darth_Tater]

Originally Posted by Bogue Chitto

Darth, the reason nitrates are testing so low is because the algae is consuming them, you still have nitrate problems. Take as much hair algae out as you can and then read the test for nitrate again after a couple of days.

I guess that could be the case. I guess it would have to be since there is algae growing. Could explain why my skimmer doesn't seem to be pulling very much out lately. Even when I had no skimmer and there was no algae growing I read 0 nitrates in this tank though. It's strange. I try not to think about it too much. If the GFO doesn't make any difference then I'll think harder about nitrates.

[Bogue Chitto]

Well, hopefully you can get your problem solved soon.

[Darth_Tater]

Well, it's about time for new bulbs. As I do every time I need new bulbs I'm thinking about an LED fixture. A local guy is selling an AquaIllumination Sol Blue for $175. Has anyone used one of those on a 40 Breeder? Will I need more than 1 of them to match the intensity of my 5 bulb T5 fixture?

[MrsReefK]

You could also get a sea hare. When I had GHA issues I bought some limpets and chitons and they had an impact on the algae. With the sea hare, once the algae is gone you'll need to supplement nori or return to LFS.

[Darth_Tater]

Time for an update! I harvested algae today and I can definitely say that between the GFO reactor and replacing my DI resin the algae growth has slowed down considerably. Here's a bunch of pictures, I even cleaned the glass this time! I only have my phone, so sorry they aren't the best:

Full tank shot:
You can even see some rocks today!


The Goby's Lair:
He's gone into hiding since I bought a new fish a week ago.


New fish:
Small Kole Tang! I'll plan on trading or selling it when it gets bigger.


My Cleaner Shrimp:


Torch Coral:
I'm not sure why it doesn't extend as much as others I've seen. Unfortunately it's kinda too big for me to move around very much in this tank.

[Darth_Tater]

And even more coral pics:

Cool Birdsnest:
It has a green/pink tint to it I can't get to show on my phone.


Purple Monti that isn't very purple:


Other Birdsnests complete with Bubble Algae:


Zoas:


Really cool Maze Brain:


Another Monti:
It's tan with bright blue polyps. Lately it's been developing green streaks in it which is odd since I've seen the colony it was taken from and there's no green whatsoever in that.


Cool Favia:


Hammer that won't ever extend very far:


Frogspawn that's not happy because I just moved it a couple hours ago:


"Superman Monti" that has absolutely no blue in it:

[Darth_Tater]

And finally:

The happiest coral in my tank, a War Coral:


Not sure this Green Slimer is going to pull through, it doesn't like the algae irritation:


Was sold to me as a Birdsnest, but pretty sure it's a Pocillopora:
This one was my favorite until that stupid Black Combtooth Blenny demolished it.


And a Pink Birdsnest that's not really pink (I like Birdsnest Corals...):

[Darth_Tater]

Well that's interesting, apparently Photobucket decided it didn't want all my pictures uploaded anymore. I'll try to figure that out sometime that's not tonight. I have to play with the choke on the Buick tonight. Anyways, two interesting developments today:

First:
I noticed some of my Cardinals look pretty skinny, so I'm going to start feeding a little more heavily and try harder to spot feed. They are pretty spooked of the turkey baster feeder so we'll see how that goes.

Second:
I got my Hanna Phosphate Checker like somebody recommended today. I ran the test and got this result: 7 ppb. Yes, 007 ppb. And if my math is right, which it better be or USU would be embarrassed they gave me a Math Minor, that = 0.007 ppm which is WAY lower than most tanks I've read about on here. I changed my GFO on Saturday so either it absorbs much quicker than I expected or all of the phosphate in my system is locked in the rocks and the algae is absorbing it before it gets into the water column. I will continue what I'm doing right now for a couple months to see what happens since I noticed less algae growth this week and hope that it eventually gets under control.

If the algae is pulling it straight from the rock before it gets into the water column, I don't know what else I can do besides keep harvesting algae and hope it depletes its phosphate source eventually.

[Darth_Tater]

Erm, I took more pictures for today's update but they seem to maybe have fixed themselves. Weird. Anyways, I read phosphate again today and it was at 1 ppb. Which is pretty much as close as that thing can read to 0. I'll leave the GFO in for a while longer just for because. I may remove it now that I have a tester and see if any phosphates are actually making it to the water column.

My skimmer has been acting up lately. I get it dialed in and then a few days later it explodes and completely overflows and spits water all over the place. I'm not sure if it's because I don't have enough stuff for it to skim or if that means I need to run it in some vinegar for a while to clean it out. It is kinda nasty looking...

I have also been thinking about taking my horribly neglected freshwater planted 20 long tank that's on the other side of my TV from this tank and turning it into a remote display refugium with lots of different macroalgaes and stuff. I haven't convinced myself I can get the plumbing to work out though so I'm not sure if I will actually try it or not. It would be really nice to get the bright light out of my sump so algae would stop growing in the skimmer and GFO reactor though.

I'll share one picture just because this one seems to have better color. Everything else looks about the same. I believe it's a Ponape Birdsnest (or at least it did on my phone, but not on my computer monitor):

[Darth_Tater]

So I just finished changing spark plugs and wires in the Buick. Not a difficult job except for the plug closest to the firewall on the passenger side where all the AC garbage happens to be. Guess which plug the genius that last replaced plugs decided needed to be torqued to about a billion ft lbs? That's right, the only plug that was nearly impossible to get the stupid ratchet onto! Just about broke my finger when it finally broke free. Luckily the grease and oil stopped the bleeding fairly quickly.

As far as tank news, I've had to up my two-part dosing by a turkey baster squirt per day, so apparently something is liking the lower phosphate levels and growing more quickly.

I'm thinking about trying to get some corals to put on the sand bed. I'd really like to try a Goniopora on the right side of the tank where the flow is really high. If I can find one for a decent price.

[Scorpius]

No offense, but I'd remove all your coral and nuke the tank and start over. It's not right to keep corals in that condition. Don't put any more coral in the tank until you figure things out.

[Darth_Tater]

Well thanks for that pep talk. Luckily for all the creatures in my tank I disagree. So do all the corals that are growing and coloring up nicely (including the Green Slimer Acro). And the fish that seem perfectly fine. I'm slowly winning the algae battle. Sorry if it's not going fast enough for you. You may have a point about adding new corals, but I'm thinking about ones that can sit on the sand bed where the algae growth is pretty much zero. There's not a very big chance I'll find one I'll be willing to buy though, they're all expensive!

Anyways, I'm still thinking about trying a remote refugium on this tank. My sump is supposed to have Chaeto growing in it to help with nutrient export, but it's mostly just a mess of hair algae. I think I'll remove all of that for now so that I can turn off the light over the sump. This will help keep my pump, skimmer, and GFO reactor from growing algae. The Chaeto is growing so slow I haven't harvested it for months, so it's pretty much useless right now anyways.

Removing the light over the sump will make it very dark in there. I'd like to rig a small overhead light to a sensor so that it will turn on when I open the stand door. Anyone have any suggestions for a sensor and/or light? Preferably not battery powered.

[Darth_Tater]

Well, small update I guess. Things are relatively unchanged except that my brown Monti Cap has turned completely green and whatever those blue polyps around my Ponape Birdsnest are starting to spread. Guess I need to try to get the Birdsnest off the frag plug and get the polyps out of the tank. They are cool, but I don't want them taking over and killing off corals. The algae does that well enough by itself!

I've taken my protein skimmer offline again. It has been running fine and then suddenly overnight decided to go nuts and spit saltwater all over my living room one too many times. It will probably stay off until I significantly increase my bio load. I'm hoping that will allow it to be more stable. On the bright side, I never noticed how LOUD that thing was! Not pump noise, but air noise. I'll have to see if I can find a mod for it to make it quieter.

I'm still trying to find a Starcki Damsel! It's getting quite frustrating. Oh well, I'll keep trying. I'm also probably going to add a pair of Banggai Cardinals and a Yellow Banded Possum Wrasse. And maybe a Purple Firefish.

I discovered on Saturday that dropping the power supply for the Tunze ATO into saltwater = death sentence for it, even after allowing it to dry out for 48 hours. It has a stupid non-standard screw holding it together or I would have taken it apart and rinsed everything in freshwater. I've ordered a new power supply and it should get here tomorrow. I've realized again that I lose almost a gallon per day to evaporation! Adding half a gallon of water twice a day by hand gets old fast.

I have decided that a 20 long aquarium on the other side of the TV stand will become a remote display fuge with lots of macroalgae and hopefully a goby/pistol shrimp pair. I'll probably also move my Redspot Glass Cardinals over there too. I've ordered the drill bit and bulkheads and a pump for it and will keep things updated here and on a thread I started in the DIY section a while ago.

Oh, and I did remove the Chaeto from my sump. I bought a flexible and trim-able LED string online with a magnetic switch so that the LEDs turn on when I open the stand door. It's very cool and I can't believe it took me so long to do it! I'll have to post some pictures of it.

[Darth_Tater]

Pics of the LEDs. The cabinet side of the magnet switch is in the second picture. They are much brighter than I expected! It's fun to play with. Lights turn on, lights turn off. Lights turn on, lights turn off. And so on.





And a terribly colored shot of the brown Monti that is now green (somehow in this picture it still looks brown...):

[Sully72]

OMG! What happend....Nitrates!!