Rebuild and recovery of a dead tank

[jason2459]

Working like a charm.

Edit:

There was one minor change and I took out the Set SpdF_GyreL first line out of the Variable speed outlet program.

[ Spd_GyreL ] ( base_Var1 )
Program Type: Advanced
Display Icon: Fan
Logging: Enabled
Program:
If Outlet vT1RampUp_C1 = ON Then TideRampUp
If Outlet vT1Full_C2 = ON Then FullSpeed
If Outlet vT1RampDn_C3 = ON Then TideRampDn
If Outlet vT2RampUp_C4 = ON Then TideRampUp
If Outlet vT2Full_C5 = ON Then FullSpeed
If Outlet vT2RampDn_C6 = ON Then TideRampDn

[jason2459]

Have to give some skimmer love tonight. The Aquamaxx EM300 has been very consistent and productive.

Since put into use I've been watching the measurement marks and keeping track of how much skimmate has been producing. So far it's been consistently going about 3 cups a day and even though it's dialed in what I would consider wet its still very dark coffee colored. No tea here. When dumping its got some nice sludge chunky like consistency towards the bottom.

Dumped back on the 14th


Tonight already back up to about 2.5 gallons so just over 3 cups a day.

[jason2459]

What ever I did back around the 22nd shuffling around with the cables for the ORP probe must have fixed the interference. It's been stable since and reacting as normal.

ORP is now maintaining above 400 at a times and peaking just over 425 every day. It seems back on track and liking the couple extra hours of light to break that 425 mark and consistently now.

I also figured out how to do a screen shot on an android phone. Never tried or had the need before.

[jason2459]

I feel like my tank is finally back in balance with itself. I haven't felt this way about my tank since last year before my tank was "nuked" killing off all my corals and any invert that wasn't buried in the sand plus many fish from I'm assuming an ammonia spike or directly from the cleaning chemicals themselves.

I don't have a spot of cyano anymore from my recent self induced nutrient spike from feeding WAY to much food in a couple hours period emptying an entire automatic fish feeder into the tank. I never did get any hair algae from that incident. That could be due to the Turbo L3 ATS. But I didn't do anything drastic to get rid of the cyano either. I did use some GFO for a couple weeks but its been offline after that when ever that was. It's back in this log somewhere when I put it online. Other then that I just watched the cyano melt away slowly. It's always good to have a reactor and media like GFO and GAC handy even if not normally used. Same with a polyfilter (not polyfill). Emergencies happen but never panic. If there's anything I've learned from reading Douglas Adams novels is DON'T PANIC!

So, decided to get a couple small frags tonight. I like watching them grow and well small frags are cheap (at least locally they are).

I'm hoping this guy survives. I understand gonioporas are hit or miss. There's also a baby red mushroom popping up and this is on the opposite end of the tank from where the growing cluster is at.


And this little guy


My yellow Fiji leather is getting to be a pretty good size


And may as well post some more pictures.

[jason2459]

Got in a couple starfish that are supposed to be pretty hardy and reef safe from KP Aquatics online. There's almost always a wait list for them. I snagged them as soon as I got the email they were in.

They're almost 2" with one being pretty pale and the other more reddish.

Here's the one that's pretty pale


Some red on this one

[jason2459]

Looking better

[jason2459]

That tiny baby clown is getting some size to it and I think I've mentioned before the juvi may be maturing into a male now. My original clown and the little guy have been getting more frisky.

Tonight was the first time that little guy was swimming around the tank. Usually he's hovering around the overflows toward the surface. I have a strong feeling though that my wife and kids got me an A. percula. Which my original is an A. ocellaris. I've read they could still pair up. It's looking promising so far.

[jason2459]

ORP hit another all time high again. Can't wait to pull the ATS screen out and see if it matches what the ORP is showing.

Hit a high of 434

[jason2459]

ATS screen is much fuller this time and felt some good weight to it. It was almost completely that thin wire like algae with little thicker tips. Plus some other stuff. Had one pale patch still. Seems pods like that wire algae as there were quite a few more mixed in there this time.

Front


Back



False bottom growing a nice mat




Screen after cleaning and rinsing this time



Not sure what to do about that pale patch. Seems like its right where some water flow gets reduced by that ring holder? Afraid I'm already maxed out on the flow rate this size screen can handle. Also think if I increase light time it will burn that patch even more?

[Floyd R Turbo]

Take some sandpaper and round off the ring so that the cross section is more oval instead of square, if that makes sense (and if I didn't already suggest that)

[jason2459]

Haven't heard that yet. I'll give that a try. But I might be buying a ring off you if I break it. Hope its also TBD.

[jason2459]

Have to remember
35
34.6
34

420

8.22
8.29

78.1

[jason2459]

So earlier tonight a couple hours after cleaning the ATS screen my wife yells out to me saying there's a magot on the counter!



Looks like I missed getting this little fellow while cleaning up.

[jason2459]

The notes above are for another round of tests I did tonight. Probably one of the last times I'll do this for a while. I'm getting out of that experimental phase I think. I'm feeling pretty good about everything I've got going and the stability is there.

Since it will probably be one of the last time I'm going to do a full round of testing in a while I figured I'll take the opportunity to compare my hobby tests and Triton ICP testing.

So, this is sealed and ready to go


To see what comes back this is what I was able to test tonight.

Temp: 78.1 (Apex probe)

pH: 8.22 at display 8.29 at sump (Apex)

ORP: 420 (Apex)

Salinity:
34ppt (Veegee refractometer)
34.6 (Apex)
35 (Milwaukee digital)

Calcium: 420 (API)

Alk: 11dkh (API)

Mg: 1440 (Salifert)

Nitrate: 0 (API)

Phosphorus: 16ppb (Hanna ULR Checker)

Phosphates: .05ppt (converted)


What I would consider undetectable. I know its not 0. It will be interesting what Triton comes back with.



In range of what I want (.04-.08) and stable now maintaining under .09



Calcium is hanging above my 400+ target I'm looking for and where it normally is. 420-440


Mg is still elevated and Alk are both the same values as last testing. I'll reduce the amount of Mg added each new salt mix batch I make. I'll keep reducing the Alk on the new saltmix as well with the muriatic acid till I hit 8-10. OR I just need to keep buying more stony corals.

[jason2459]

Created a thread over in the Chemistry section related to the Triton tests vs my testing.

Over here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2537234

[jason2459]

Added some more supplements to help reduce my alk and a little Mg. This is my third dose of stony corals.

[jason2459]

I noticed that along with the purple tips on my GBTA there's this cool looking purple line going up and down on the tentacles as well. Looks blue in the pic.




The little frogspawn frag is looking good. I moved it down lower a bit.



And I always forget about that little minimax. It's still hanging around.

[jason2459]

The bicolor is probably my favorite dwarf angel and happy its been doing good with my other two (flame and coral beauty) along with staying away from my corals so far. Colors are so vibrant and like the coral beauty has this neon bright blue outline along the rim of the blue area. At least mine does. And like the coral beauty doesn't show up in pictures.

Just love that blue crown too

[vbhmh]

How bout a pic of the new house? Those floods were amazing, hope it was the 100 year flood and it won't happen again for a long time.

[jason2459]

Thanks for checking in Mr Bot. Our house wasn't in a flood zone at all. One thing I checked before buying the house was the 100/500 year flood maps. Our house wasn't in either of those zones. So, no it wasn't a 100 year flood. It was much much worse.

[jason2459]

I got my Triton test results in. Faster then I thought I would. Also Unique coral is pretty awesome. They refunded a shipping charge they charged me for because I failed to read the Note: that if only ordering the triton test to choose local pickup/Triton only shipping option for free shipping.

Here's the results.

[jason2459]

My bicolor angel has taken to nipping at the little tastles coming off the body of my male matted file fish. It's ****ing him off. But for some reason I find it funny to watch. The bicolor isn't doing any damage and the angry push back is brief.

I also think I see a few new polyps already on that red goniopora.

[jason2459]

Time for a other frag dose

[jason2459]

This hammer has an amazing glow to it. With the white LEDs on or just the blues. The picture above was with the white LEDs on.

Right now just the blues are on and it just radiates.


Compared to my Duncan and new frogspawn by it.

[Giants13]

Originally Posted by jason2459

So earlier tonight a couple hours after cleaning the ATS screen my wife yells out to me saying there's a magot on the counter!



Looks like I missed getting this little fellow while cleaning up.

lol this is a copepod u want them, everything eats them. I just grew them for a year so i can house a pair of mandarin gobys (wife said i can have a tank but she has to have those). Also i think those are amphipods to be exact.