Very nice install macca_75 That is a great setup. :) Well done!
Tank Journal Archive
Synodontis - I just wish I could upgrade my system to LED's similar to what you've done - the initial outlay will be a killer.
One day.....
Maybe time to start spending the money on stock now I have most of the equipment where I want it to be (at least for now)
One day.....
Maybe time to start spending the money on stock now I have most of the equipment where I want it to be (at least for now)
You could be surprised with what it would cost macca_75 Should catch up one day & work it all out lol. :)
Synodontis - if you ever pack a picnic lunch and head this far out (about 15 mins past the aquariums in Keysborough) let me know.
Cheers
Cheers
Not a lot to update....
I have got sick of pulling the Flame Hawk from the wier (probably 2 out of 3 days) so have built a "make shift" wier comb out of egg create. Knowning me it will be there for years to come....
My Shego heater arrived last week - Thanks Rob
My poor planning has meant I forgot to order the controller :( It's on it's way thanks to eBay and should be here any day now.
On a slightly seperate note I've also now got my power monitoring device installed and working.
It's an EnviR, 3 phase kit and 2 IAM's (Individual Appliance Monitor). Using the IAM I can confirm that my eHeim heater only actually uses 230W, not the rated 300W it's sized to be at. Interesting, but usless, information ;)
And on a sad note I went to fill up my RO top off last night and found my 6 line had decided to floor board surf. I couldn't have missed him by more than 1/2 hr I'd say as the body was still damp....:( Will defintely get another as they are a great fish. Will be missed.
I have got sick of pulling the Flame Hawk from the wier (probably 2 out of 3 days) so have built a "make shift" wier comb out of egg create. Knowning me it will be there for years to come....
My Shego heater arrived last week - Thanks Rob
My poor planning has meant I forgot to order the controller :( It's on it's way thanks to eBay and should be here any day now.
On a slightly seperate note I've also now got my power monitoring device installed and working.
It's an EnviR, 3 phase kit and 2 IAM's (Individual Appliance Monitor). Using the IAM I can confirm that my eHeim heater only actually uses 230W, not the rated 300W it's sized to be at. Interesting, but usless, information ;)
And on a sad note I went to fill up my RO top off last night and found my 6 line had decided to floor board surf. I couldn't have missed him by more than 1/2 hr I'd say as the body was still damp....:( Will defintely get another as they are a great fish. Will be missed.
Arhhhh - the good old days.
Whilst cleaning up the study I had to throw out about 1 billion burnt CD's. Of course I needed to go through each one to amke sure there was nothing I needed on them.
Anyway.....
Found (amoungst some other pics) some early shots of my tank. I haven't cropped or touched up this pic, but digital camera's back then weren't what they are today. This was taken
10 Jan, 2001
Reason for adding this is I really loved this substrate. I bought it from a fellow reefer while on Holiday in Perth. It maintained my Ca at 450 without any additives (looking back the coralline was exactly booming back then though). It never blew around and when the lights were on (they must have been off as the Starfish was out) it looked really natural.
Was about $20 per 20Kg bag. Oh - I wish I coulld get this again today - I would swap it out in a heartbeat......
Whilst cleaning up the study I had to throw out about 1 billion burnt CD's. Of course I needed to go through each one to amke sure there was nothing I needed on them.
Anyway.....
Found (amoungst some other pics) some early shots of my tank. I haven't cropped or touched up this pic, but digital camera's back then weren't what they are today. This was taken
10 Jan, 2001
Reason for adding this is I really loved this substrate. I bought it from a fellow reefer while on Holiday in Perth. It maintained my Ca at 450 without any additives (looking back the coralline was exactly booming back then though). It never blew around and when the lights were on (they must have been off as the Starfish was out) it looked really natural.
Was about $20 per 20Kg bag. Oh - I wish I coulld get this again today - I would swap it out in a heartbeat......
Just had my Cousin's partner around for a family get together - looks like tomorrow he is going to plumb a tap into the room so I can move the RO unit. If I get a drain hooked up through the wall while we are at it I'm in business. Auto top up of ATO resivour here we come, water changes without draining to the laundry trough - yes please....
And true to his word here it is.
Plaster work has been repaired, but needs to be sanded, painted, etc. Then we just screw the tap on and attach the RO unit.
Also figured out how we are going to plumb and connect the drain, but thats a job for another day.
Should have the controller for the Shego wired soon so I can get the heater out of the tank and drop the temp a little and have less fluctuation.
Plaster work has been repaired, but needs to be sanded, painted, etc. Then we just screw the tap on and attach the RO unit.
Also figured out how we are going to plumb and connect the drain, but thats a job for another day.
Should have the controller for the Shego wired soon so I can get the heater out of the tank and drop the temp a little and have less fluctuation.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly....
OK - let's start with the good. I finally got around to having the controller mounted in a box for the Heater. Works like a charm, is easy to program and offers a high degree of accuracy (You can set it to 0.1 of a degree as a target range and set a tolerance of 0.1 degrees). I currently have it set at 26.3 +/- 0.3. The only problem - stupid me forgot to order a conversion plug for the Shego so I am using an Eheim for now.
(Sorry Guys - I have no idea why every picture I host on this forum turns sideways - any idea's @thereefuge ?)
The Bad...
My Hanna Reagents were faulty. for a while now I have been reporting 0.00 and couldn't for the life of me get the reading up. Anyway (refer tot he ugly a bit down) I've had a few algae blooms of late which lead me to really rethink why. Anyway I tested my tap water and got a 0.00 result - something isn't right here. Sure enough a quick trip down to Hanna and they replaced the reagents. I now get a reading of 0.1 ppm (not great, but great I am getting a reading). I have been running Rowa for the past 2 days and will continue to do so and will do a water change on the weekend. I think I've also lost a Pocci @Rob gave me in the past week (the tips are bleaching out). Maybe it will come good.
The Ugly...
Need I say more...
@MagicJ - You'll be happy to know the heater is out of the DT finally ;) I've also re-positioned my Tunze so I can now cable tie the pumps so it appears only 2 cords go into the DT. Once the algae goes I'll get a new FTS.
I also order and received (today) a Raspberry Pi so that's the next project - with @Rob help - to replace the monitor currently on loan with a few improvements ;)
OK - let's start with the good. I finally got around to having the controller mounted in a box for the Heater. Works like a charm, is easy to program and offers a high degree of accuracy (You can set it to 0.1 of a degree as a target range and set a tolerance of 0.1 degrees). I currently have it set at 26.3 +/- 0.3. The only problem - stupid me forgot to order a conversion plug for the Shego so I am using an Eheim for now.
(Sorry Guys - I have no idea why every picture I host on this forum turns sideways - any idea's @thereefuge ?)
The Bad...
My Hanna Reagents were faulty. for a while now I have been reporting 0.00 and couldn't for the life of me get the reading up. Anyway (refer tot he ugly a bit down) I've had a few algae blooms of late which lead me to really rethink why. Anyway I tested my tap water and got a 0.00 result - something isn't right here. Sure enough a quick trip down to Hanna and they replaced the reagents. I now get a reading of 0.1 ppm (not great, but great I am getting a reading). I have been running Rowa for the past 2 days and will continue to do so and will do a water change on the weekend. I think I've also lost a Pocci @Rob gave me in the past week (the tips are bleaching out). Maybe it will come good.
The Ugly...
Need I say more...
@MagicJ - You'll be happy to know the heater is out of the DT finally ;) I've also re-positioned my Tunze so I can now cable tie the pumps so it appears only 2 cords go into the DT. Once the algae goes I'll get a new FTS.
I also order and received (today) a Raspberry Pi so that's the next project - with @Rob help - to replace the monitor currently on loan with a few improvements ;)
The great algae bloom of 2013 begins....
Arrrrrrh
2012 finished off with me having a pretty bad case of Algae bloom. I'm not sure what triggered it although as you can see from below I have a few ideas’ (I disturbed the sandbed fairly massively trying to get it to "look right" - I suspect this was the straw that broke the proverbial camels back.
So, winding back the clock a bit. I decided to do a little experiment and see how long I could go without RowaPhos before my Phosphate levels climbed. I was monitoring every 2nd day or so and using a lot of reagents, so I ran out and bought some more. My system had always reported 0.00 - 0.02 (depending when I tested it) as I had a 5L bucket of Rowaphos and wasn't afraid to use it...
Turns out I had a bad batch of reagents - what I thought was a 0.00 test actually wasn't. Anyway, sometime after removing RowaPhos from the system I decided to move the sandbed around and level it where the power heads had blown it around - STOP - we need to go back even further:
At 1 stage I was down 2 power heads (for different reasons). Still having effectively between 12x and 24x (based on a controller running between 50% and 100% alternating) and a tank of softies I was too concerned - but these were replaced/repaired and my flow is back to where it should be). Wind to clock back forward again.
OK - Back to my levelling the sandbed out as the increased flow and different patterns from the power heads (they were put back in different, less conspicuous positions) had blown the sandbed all over the place. I SUSPECT THIS WAS THE FINAL STRAW...
Anyhow, I began to develop algae in the tank - prior there was not a sign of it anywhere to be seen - literally (even though it is always there somewhere in some shape or form).
Hmmm - Cyano I thought to myself. I might check my Hanna Phos Meter against "dirty" tap water - still 0.00. That’s not right I thought to myself.
Anyway, Hanna had no issue replacing the batch of Reagents even though there had been no report of any faulty batches. BINGO - 0.17ppm
Now my research into Cyano led me to believe it was caused by 3 things:
1) Excess Nitrate and Phosphate (bad test kit co-inciding with my "testing" of no RowaPhos)
2) Poor flow (see my story about my pumps above - since fixed)
3) Poor lighting - typically caused by aging tubes.
Hmmm - on point 3 - when did I last replace my Halide globes? That long ago I can't remember. Doh. As luck would have it I happened to buy 3 last time (I only have 2 lights) so I changed 1 over for the new "spare" - oh god that 14000K goodness instead of the 6500K I had become accustomed to. So - as luck would have it a few days prior I had put in an order for some heat sink and LED's from the states for my first "trial" module (I will be replacing the 2 current halides with 3 "modules" of DIY LED lighting - see .........
Other observations from today
A) Some of my snails appeared to have been dying in the past few days. When I got there upside bodies off the sandbed today (not wanting them to decay and add fuel to the fire) I noticed they did respond to movement, just really slowly.
1) I have placed these on a rock in a low flow area to see if they recover and move by tomorrow.
2) Further research required.
B) The algae seems to spread far too quick for Cyano
1) Further research required.
C) I tried a manual remove. This algae is thick and dense
1) Further research required.
I stumbled upon http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/eb/index.php
I am now convinced I have Dinoflagellates - not Cyano (or at a minimum a combination of both). The reference under "Dinoflagellates in the Aquarium: "Snotty" Dinoflagellates and Fish Parasites"
Describes exactly what I am seeing.
Further reading in Sprung J, Delbeek JC. 1994. The Reef Aquarium, Volume 1 - Pg 326-328 also supports this.
So, where to from here.
1) Open the vale more and pass more water through to the skimmer.
2) Stop all current dosing (Randies 3 part mix).
3) Start using a Kalk solution and see if I can raise pH to 8.4 or above.
4) reduce the Photo period to 4 hours per day (temp band aid fix)
5) Get the building the LED lights as soon as the parts arrive to replace the older halide globe that is still that golden colour we all love so much – see http://www.thereefuge.com.au/board/threads/diy-led-lighting-questions-for-those-who-have-done-it.5158/ for more updates.
6) Order some new RO filters - damn - meant to do this today but forgot. They are due for replacement anyway I guess.
7) Order more NSW - I have 200L left or 1 change which I will probably do over the weekend.
Oh - I had already started to reduce the Phosphate as well. In the past week I am onto my second lot of RowaPhos and am also dosing the liquid Phosphate remover for pools into a sock at the rate of 2 daily doses of 2.5ml each. I have gone from 0.17 to 0.06 in 1 week and aim to get it to 0.02 (or less). Thinking about setting up a dosing pump for the liquid pool starver straight into the ozone port of the skimmer and reusing the TLF550 for carbon. This can wait - to many things on the go at the moment.
I have always order a little plastic aquarium "set" from ebay - a whole of $4 (inc delivery).
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4in1-Aquarium-Fish-Tank-Cleaning-Set-Net-Gravel-Rake-Plant-Fork-Sponge-/400368402314?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d37d0ff8a
To be honest I am only interested in the little rake head bit - I guessing it will be so small it might actually prove useful it getting the "hard to reach places". Plan here is to try and rake the top surface of the sandbed gently (it feels sort of encrusted) and see how much I can manually remove.
Been to long sitting here in from of the computer so hopefully things will start to look up by the end of the month.
I'll try and add some photos tomorrow. Until then - good luck reefing....
Arrrrrrh
2012 finished off with me having a pretty bad case of Algae bloom. I'm not sure what triggered it although as you can see from below I have a few ideas’ (I disturbed the sandbed fairly massively trying to get it to "look right" - I suspect this was the straw that broke the proverbial camels back.
So, winding back the clock a bit. I decided to do a little experiment and see how long I could go without RowaPhos before my Phosphate levels climbed. I was monitoring every 2nd day or so and using a lot of reagents, so I ran out and bought some more. My system had always reported 0.00 - 0.02 (depending when I tested it) as I had a 5L bucket of Rowaphos and wasn't afraid to use it...
Turns out I had a bad batch of reagents - what I thought was a 0.00 test actually wasn't. Anyway, sometime after removing RowaPhos from the system I decided to move the sandbed around and level it where the power heads had blown it around - STOP - we need to go back even further:
At 1 stage I was down 2 power heads (for different reasons). Still having effectively between 12x and 24x (based on a controller running between 50% and 100% alternating) and a tank of softies I was too concerned - but these were replaced/repaired and my flow is back to where it should be). Wind to clock back forward again.
OK - Back to my levelling the sandbed out as the increased flow and different patterns from the power heads (they were put back in different, less conspicuous positions) had blown the sandbed all over the place. I SUSPECT THIS WAS THE FINAL STRAW...
Anyhow, I began to develop algae in the tank - prior there was not a sign of it anywhere to be seen - literally (even though it is always there somewhere in some shape or form).
Hmmm - Cyano I thought to myself. I might check my Hanna Phos Meter against "dirty" tap water - still 0.00. That’s not right I thought to myself.
Anyway, Hanna had no issue replacing the batch of Reagents even though there had been no report of any faulty batches. BINGO - 0.17ppm
Now my research into Cyano led me to believe it was caused by 3 things:
1) Excess Nitrate and Phosphate (bad test kit co-inciding with my "testing" of no RowaPhos)
2) Poor flow (see my story about my pumps above - since fixed)
3) Poor lighting - typically caused by aging tubes.
Hmmm - on point 3 - when did I last replace my Halide globes? That long ago I can't remember. Doh. As luck would have it I happened to buy 3 last time (I only have 2 lights) so I changed 1 over for the new "spare" - oh god that 14000K goodness instead of the 6500K I had become accustomed to. So - as luck would have it a few days prior I had put in an order for some heat sink and LED's from the states for my first "trial" module (I will be replacing the 2 current halides with 3 "modules" of DIY LED lighting - see .........
Other observations from today
A) Some of my snails appeared to have been dying in the past few days. When I got there upside bodies off the sandbed today (not wanting them to decay and add fuel to the fire) I noticed they did respond to movement, just really slowly.
1) I have placed these on a rock in a low flow area to see if they recover and move by tomorrow.
2) Further research required.
B) The algae seems to spread far too quick for Cyano
1) Further research required.
C) I tried a manual remove. This algae is thick and dense
1) Further research required.
I stumbled upon http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/eb/index.php
I am now convinced I have Dinoflagellates - not Cyano (or at a minimum a combination of both). The reference under "Dinoflagellates in the Aquarium: "Snotty" Dinoflagellates and Fish Parasites"
Besides the precautions that should be taken for toxic dinoflagellates which are certainly potentially present in marine aquaria, and the obvious interest in symbiotic species such as zooxanthellae, aquarists are probably well-familiar with reports or experiences of a brown, slimy, snotty algae that traps gas bubbles and covers the surfaces of live rock, tank walls, and even corals. A web photo of the appearance of this material can be found here. Such periodic blooms are often reported in the spring, and seem to correlate with deaths of fish and especially with lethargy or paralysis and death of herbivorous snails. These are covered extensively by Sprung and Delbeek (1994), along with methods of eradication. Such cases may indeed be blooms of toxic dinoflagellates. There are, however, other toxic microalgae, other slimy snotty algae, and other algae that trap gas bubbles. The gas bubbles are likely oxygen being produced by photosynthesis, and of the many mat or film-forming microorganisms, photosynthetic protists, algae, and cyanobacteria can all appear very similar. Cyanobacteria, in particular, are also well known for producing toxins.
Describes exactly what I am seeing.
Further reading in Sprung J, Delbeek JC. 1994. The Reef Aquarium, Volume 1 - Pg 326-328 also supports this.
So, where to from here.
1) Open the vale more and pass more water through to the skimmer.
2) Stop all current dosing (Randies 3 part mix).
3) Start using a Kalk solution and see if I can raise pH to 8.4 or above.
4) reduce the Photo period to 4 hours per day (temp band aid fix)
5) Get the building the LED lights as soon as the parts arrive to replace the older halide globe that is still that golden colour we all love so much – see http://www.thereefuge.com.au/board/threads/diy-led-lighting-questions-for-those-who-have-done-it.5158/ for more updates.
6) Order some new RO filters - damn - meant to do this today but forgot. They are due for replacement anyway I guess.
7) Order more NSW - I have 200L left or 1 change which I will probably do over the weekend.
Oh - I had already started to reduce the Phosphate as well. In the past week I am onto my second lot of RowaPhos and am also dosing the liquid Phosphate remover for pools into a sock at the rate of 2 daily doses of 2.5ml each. I have gone from 0.17 to 0.06 in 1 week and aim to get it to 0.02 (or less). Thinking about setting up a dosing pump for the liquid pool starver straight into the ozone port of the skimmer and reusing the TLF550 for carbon. This can wait - to many things on the go at the moment.
I have always order a little plastic aquarium "set" from ebay - a whole of $4 (inc delivery).
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4in1-Aquarium-Fish-Tank-Cleaning-Set-Net-Gravel-Rake-Plant-Fork-Sponge-/400368402314?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d37d0ff8a
To be honest I am only interested in the little rake head bit - I guessing it will be so small it might actually prove useful it getting the "hard to reach places". Plan here is to try and rake the top surface of the sandbed gently (it feels sort of encrusted) and see how much I can manually remove.
Been to long sitting here in from of the computer so hopefully things will start to look up by the end of the month.
I'll try and add some photos tomorrow. Until then - good luck reefing....
Oh - I forgot to add the heater controller is now in playing and working really nicely. I'm still not using the Shego (need to put a shelf in and set it up right) but the tank bottom temp is much more reliable. Once the halides are out of the room it should also stop the 2 degree swings I see towards the end of the photo period.
I have a 5L bucket of rowacarbon, you wanna decent scoop to put in a reactor or sock, I wont miss a couple of cup fulls.?
I setup my ATI T5 using dimming from the controller today, wow I like the effect of being able to change the light intensity, tank looks amazing at lower light levels. I'm definitely IN on the LED build, keep telling myself to wait for the macca build before I press the buy button. I do need to get an addition 4 x 1-10V outputs for the profilux so when you want the shrouds I'll get the expansion card in preparation.
I setup my ATI T5 using dimming from the controller today, wow I like the effect of being able to change the light intensity, tank looks amazing at lower light levels. I'm definitely IN on the LED build, keep telling myself to wait for the macca build before I press the buy button. I do need to get an addition 4 x 1-10V outputs for the profilux so when you want the shrouds I'll get the expansion card in preparation.
Thanks for the offer rob - but I will need to setup the dosing pump first before I remove the Rowaphos, and won't be doing that until this issue is fixed.
On a side note I was thinking of something like this as 1 one of separate unit dedicated to the task.
http://www.marinemagic-online.com/catalog/item/8196440/9377856.htm
Now - for the bit for my reference.
The blue eye tang is also showing the first signs of ich - he seems to be the indicator fish when something isn't right. Not to bad at the moment though.
On a side note I was thinking of something like this as 1 one of separate unit dedicated to the task.
http://www.marinemagic-online.com/catalog/item/8196440/9377856.htm
Now - for the bit for my reference.
- I have cut the lighting cycle down to 4 hours.
- Increased the flow to almost 100% through the skimmer sump. This has raised the water level and subsequently I am now skimming really wet - about a cup full per day I suspect.
- Swapped out my Randies Alk recipe from #2 to #1 (which will raise the pH slightly) rather than switch to Kalk. I figure this will be a less stressful way of increasing the pH. Same dosing quantities.
- For the sake of history my starting point for Alk on the Hanna is 191ppm (10.696 dKH) and the pH on the digital meter is 8.58 (not sure this probe is calibrated so using it for trending only). Both measurements taken at 8pm.
- I'm about to go and manually remove what I can from the Sandbed - not looking forward to this and am really putting it off.
The blue eye tang is also showing the first signs of ich - he seems to be the indicator fish when something isn't right. Not to bad at the moment though.
OK - I can feel a little better about myself. All the reading I have done suggests manual harvesting does little however I figure it can't hurt - as a minimum it's like a macro harvest, remove potentially trapped Phosphate and Nitrates.
All the shots are straight off the iPhone - no editing, etc. The water quality in the after shots is also a little murky as it was literally minutes after playing (gently) with the top of the sand bed.
Anyhow, a picture is worth a thousand words they say...
Before
All the shots are straight off the iPhone - no editing, etc. The water quality in the after shots is also a little murky as it was literally minutes after playing (gently) with the top of the sand bed.
Anyhow, a picture is worth a thousand words they say...
Before
Oh man, you really are in trouble! I saw it 3 weeks ago and it was not the best I've seen it however looked pretty good. You gotta get this crap out of there, LED build ain't gonna fix this shit, and I won't talk to you about it anymore until you get this under control. I suggest you take my carbon reactor TLF150 and some rowacarbon I can live without it in my tank for 2 weeks. I'll just stick some carbon in my second TLF150 with my rowaphos.
Note to myself, don't f#%# with the sand otherwise you might do a macca .
Note to myself, don't f#%# with the sand otherwise you might do a macca .
So the reading from last night (also taken around 8pm) were:
Alk: 209 ppm (11.704 dKH) - probably want to try and keep this to 12 or less.
pH: 8.58 (again) - but yes it is moving.
I think the pH has actually raised but as I am switching the lights on 4 hours later the rise in pH doesn't occur until 4 hours later, so the real test will be comparing to the results tonight.
Observations:
What I missed in the manual removal is back as thick as ever, however there is far less coverage. I will have another quick go tonight and see what else I can remove.
The skimmer continues to skim a full cup of really diluted skimmate each day - I need to raise the skimmer as the extra water volume has changed the depth about 2cm's the skimmer sits in.
Until tonight. Later.
Alk: 209 ppm (11.704 dKH) - probably want to try and keep this to 12 or less.
pH: 8.58 (again) - but yes it is moving.
I think the pH has actually raised but as I am switching the lights on 4 hours later the rise in pH doesn't occur until 4 hours later, so the real test will be comparing to the results tonight.
Observations:
What I missed in the manual removal is back as thick as ever, however there is far less coverage. I will have another quick go tonight and see what else I can remove.
The skimmer continues to skim a full cup of really diluted skimmate each day - I need to raise the skimmer as the extra water volume has changed the depth about 2cm's the skimmer sits in.
Until tonight. Later.
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