Nolesx4 Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 (edited) BIG SCARE TODAY!!!! We went on a day trip to pick-up my daughter in San Fran. This morning when we left, everything was OK. When we got back tonight, the main pump was spitting out bubbles, and the water level was down big-time. I ran to the tank to unplug the pump, and the top of the stand and carpet were wet. CRAP, the tanks leaking!!! I sopped up the water on the stand, got a flashlight to look for the leak. Cant find any. Felt around the stand for a water trail, none. What the heck was going on??? I lifted the lid, and checked the salinity, 1.025, so I added some DI water to get it back down to where I keep it. Once I was satisfied with the salinity, I decided to plug in the main pump. It starts working like normal, and the water level is just shy of the divide between 2nd & 3rd chamber. What is going on??? Then I notice the water level in 2 & 3 are starting to go down again. Then I notice the water in the 1st chamber is starting to get higher. Again, I think 'what is going on???' I then see the problem... the floss was completely dirty, acting like a dam. But the water wasn't escaping to the open side of the drip plate (I only have 1/3 of the plate covered with floss in-case this happened, so the water could wash over it into chamber 2. Yesterday, I had taken the MJ900 out and soaked it in vinegar because the flow had dropped. The cleaned pump was now pulling more crap out of the tank in 1 day than I have seen in a week. The wet carpet was due to the return spitting out water thru the open hood ( had 2 computer fans propping the lid to cool down the tank. Moral of the story, if you change something to your tank, watch-out for the unexpected outcome. Edited July 24, 2011 by Nolesx4 Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted July 28, 2011 Author Share Posted July 28, 2011 Quick update: After 9 days with the new fuge light, the cheato has gone from a golf ball size to about a tennis ball size. The back wall has also started to be coated with long hard thread algae mats. My nitrates are testing at 5ppm so something must be working right. Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted August 5, 2011 Author Share Posted August 5, 2011 Quick update: Cheato has grown to almost softball size. I'm thinking I'll need to trim it soon. The fuge has grown a thick algae coating on all sides that I've been harvesting some every 3 days. The nitrates are staying right at 5 ppm. There is a few tufts of hair algae growing on my seed live rock. I'm going to adjust the tanks lighting schedule down a little to see if it stays under control. I have some Christmas tree hydroids showing up. I've searched out info and says to wait for it to go thru its own cycle. Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 Looks like I have Maiden Hair algae growing on the live seed rock. Also did a water change today. Cleaned a lot of stuff from the bottom of the rear chambers. I also found a couple of spots in the tank that catch the detritus. I did water tests yesterday, and water parameters are still looking good: pH 8.3 Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 5 Salinity: 1.023 Temp: 79.9° Ca: 490 dKh: 10.3 Mg: 1400 Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted August 13, 2011 Author Share Posted August 13, 2011 Did a few things different this last week. Replaced my DIY cooling/evaporation fans from 2x40mm to 2x80mm. The tank is now staying around 74° and evap is 1ltr daily. This is allowing me to add Kalkwasser, which I just started, with my make-up water. I have noticed the corals seem to be opening larger than ever. The goniporas arms around the edge of the frag are starting to grow/extend which they have never done since purchased. The GSP is starting to spread on the frag plug and the polyps are larger than before. The above might be all psychological, but it looks good to me. I also just got all the parts to make a DIY dual reactor and will be posting the installation picts as soon as I get around to building and plumbing it. Quote Link to comment
Builder Anthony Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 (edited) Psychological ...were you smokeing Nice tank looks like fiji rock. Edited August 13, 2011 by Builder Anthony Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted August 13, 2011 Author Share Posted August 13, 2011 BRS pukani dry rock to be exact. And, unless it's carryover from my next door neighbor... no, not smoking here. Thanks Quote Link to comment
bjbass Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Maybe I missed it, but what is the sand that you used? Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Maybe I missed it, but what is the sand that you used? Caribasea Aragonite, Aragamax Select, about 1/2" and 1" in the high spots. Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Just replaced the lights with the PC from NanoTuners. 12K UVL Actinic tri-phosphor & NanoTuners Actinic blue. I love the the Actinic blue over the stock bulb. Everything is fluorescing much more and you can see it when the 12k bulb is on too! 12k bulb is taking a little getting used to. It's got more warmth/pink than the stock 10k. But, it makes the tank look better (more natural than the harsh of just a white light.) My monti frag started to grow some 'By' word algae!!! Took it out and popped it off the frag (disposed of the frag) then placed it on the rock. Got a bubble coral and a large star polyps (4"x6") frag for my B-day on the 15th. They are doing nicely in the tank. I'm so ready to get a larger tank! Thinking a 55-75 gal. tank is in the near future. I see the wife and kids just sitting staring at the tank, and think I can get away with it if I build the stand/hood to save costs. Quote Link to comment
bjbass Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Caribasea Aragonite, Aragamax Select, about 1/2" and 1" in the high spots. I really liked your substrate, so I bought a 15lb bag tonight. Did you use the whole bag? I was figuring I would probably only need like 12 pounds. Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted August 25, 2011 Author Share Posted August 25, 2011 I really liked your substrate, so I bought a 15lb bag tonight. Did you use the whole bag? I was figuring I would probably only need like 12 pounds. I got the 15# bag and used about 5-7lbs of it. I have enough for the next tank though. Quote Link to comment
BKR Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Nice work all around.... Quote Link to comment
bjbass Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 I got the 15# bag and used about 5-7lbs of it. I have enough for the next tank though. Wow. I think you have about the right amount of sand, so that means I am going to have a bunch left over as well. Hmm. I guess I will just see if anybody wants it as the only reason I would need it is for any lost from gravel vaccing my tank. Wait, do you gravel vac saltwater tanks? I am a freshwater guy currently learning about saltwater. BJ Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted August 27, 2011 Author Share Posted August 27, 2011 Up-to-date FTS: Side: I'm starting to like the pinker lights the UVL's have. And the Nanotuners actinic makes everything glow like mad. The GSP looks great under it, once it decides to open up again. Discontinued use of kalkwasser and decided to stick with B-Ionic. Just so much easier. Quote Link to comment
Sea_Of_Treachery Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Congrats on your tank.IMO you need to slow down. You added your cuc before your cycle was complete. You also have 2 of the most difficult to keep corals in your tank (goniopora and elegance) i would highly suggest replacing them. May i suggest re-scaping? To me, it just looks like a bunch of rock just thrown in there. Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted August 28, 2011 Author Share Posted August 28, 2011 (edited) Why thank you for the advice. It seems that my CUC are still alive, the Goni and Elegance are doing fine and seem to be growing (they're larger than when I bought them.) Luck or some skill and research must be shining on my pile of rocks! Edited August 28, 2011 by Nolesx4 Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 I just started to have a GHA outbreak. It's covering the two pieces I got from the LFS, and popping up in places, so I'll be scrubbing this weekend. Water param's have been consistently at 0ppm for all majors. Nitrate has been in check after the light change in my fuge (cheato is now growing great). Phosphates are testing 0-0.1 (Red Sea kit) so I added a bag of phos remover. Also removed the rock formation at the front left of the tank. My Elegance coral has opened up nicely now. I think it may have hindered by the rocks. The fish like to come out more, too. Almost 5 months running and everything, except the pipe organ, are doing fine. Gonipora has increased its arm count and size. GSP has crept off the plug. Bubble is bubbling large. Monti has grown. Pipe organ has lost some of the polyps. Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 Well, its been awhile since I posted, between loosing my job due to the closure of 55+ locations across the U.S., mine being one of them, and looking for work this has been not on the top of my list. Just to update my tank: Fish are happy and growing and all still with me. I've got pink and green coraline growing now! The Elegance coral has gotten huge, doubling its size! I just lost the Gonipora last week. I did some cleaning of the GHA off the rock and removed some of the sand during a WC, it didn't like it. It stopped opening and soon was gone. But it lasted almost a year which I read is about the limit in captivity. My Monti has grown about 1/4" and is a lovely orange with green polyps. I also changed the fuge light to a red CFL and have noticed a marked increase in the cheato growth and color. Before it was turning light green/white in locations and was slow growing. Now it is all green with twice the growth as before. All the water parameters are staying consistent and with WCs everything seems to be going well into the 1st year! Quote Link to comment
Nolesx4 Posted January 10, 2018 Author Share Posted January 10, 2018 Well, how about digging up this and closing this chapter of my life. Im sorry to say that this tank crashed in 2015. My frags started to die one by one and then I lost the fish. I couldn’t figure it out. When I broke the tank down I found the magnets on the powerhead mounts had all swollen and were leaching rust and whatever else they could into the tank. I never noticed as I would just pop the heads off the mount to clean them. The new rebuild of the tank will be starting soon as the grand baby is asking where’s the fish in the empty tank. Thanks for everyone’s comments and support while I was doing this tank. I hope to get the same on the next tank. 2 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.