pschom Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 I think: Go slow with any additions and let the bacteria build up over a couple months. Increase your bioload slowly. Add clown pair, wait and let it stabilize, then add a couple corals...so on. I'm not familiar with the nuvo so don't know if you have a skimmer. While not a requirement, a good skimmer will be beneficial. If your light is powerful enough and your water is in check go ahead and plop some sps in there and see how they do. I waited way too long to add sps because I was nervous but they grow better in advanced systems than some softies. And my advice, skip the flame angel and get three small cromis. They will look cool and not pick at your coral. Same bioload pretty much. Link to comment
shawnriv Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 I think: Go slow with any additions and let the bacteria build up over a couple months. Increase your bioload slowly. Add clown pair, wait and let it stabilize, then add a couple corals...so on. I'm not familiar with the nuvo so don't know if you have a skimmer. While not a requirement, a good skimmer will be beneficial. If your light is powerful enough and your water is in check go ahead and plop some sps in there and see how they do. I waited way too long to add sps because I was nervous but they grow better in advanced systems than some softies. And my advice, skip the flame angel and get three small cromis. They will look cool and not pick at your coral. Same bioload pretty much. Thanks for the information. I just started cycling my tank last night using Instant Ocean Bio-Spira and Dr. Tim's ammonia and I tested tonight (24 hrs later) and had a huge spike in nitrite. Are there any SPS corals you recommend? I remember looking over your forum and you had some gorgeous SPS, but unfortunately don't remember the names of them. Link to comment
pschom Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 Thanks for the information. I just started cycling my tank last night using Instant Ocean Bio-Spira and Dr. Tim's ammonia and I tested tonight (24 hrs later) and had a huge spike in nitrite. Are there any SPS corals you recommend? I remember looking over your forum and you had some gorgeous SPS, but unfortunately don't remember the names of them. That brings up something else. I used to try all these chemicals and additives and it was such a pain to balance them by hand that I gave up. And when I did, that's when I got the best growth and color. In this system I did two, 5 gallon water changes a week (Sunday and Wednesday). Biospira is great for the start, but without a doser it's so difficult to dose and I'm still not convinced that it does anything... Lots of different opinions there. I also used to test for almost everything. Testing for things in the beginning is good, but once the system stabilizes and your wc's are current, if things are looking good...you really don't need to. Stay close to your tank and watch for changes. Or patterns. If something looks bad, find the root cause of the issue and solve that before trying to add chems and such. Far as sps, try to get them in frags at first and see if you can find an lfs that has sps growing under a light that's the same, or under the level of yours. There's an lfs here that grows sps frags under very basic T5 in a shallow tanks and when input those under LEDs they really take off. But don't be afraid to just plop some frags of anything in there. Every coral is different. I can go with no water changes for two weeks and one sps will thrive and grow, while another looks dull. Link to comment
shawnriv Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 That brings up something else. I used to try all these chemicals and additives and it was such a pain to balance them by hand that I gave up. And when I did, that's when I got the best growth and color. In this system I did two, 5 gallon water changes a week (Sunday and Wednesday). Biospira is great for the start, but without a doser it's so difficult to dose and I'm still not convinced that it does anything... Lots of different opinions there. I also used to test for almost everything. Testing for things in the beginning is good, but once the system stabilizes and your wc's are current, if things are looking good...you really don't need to. Stay close to your tank and watch for changes. Or patterns. If something looks bad, find the root cause of the issue and solve that before trying to add chems and such. Far as sps, try to get them in frags at first and see if you can find an lfs that has sps growing under a light that's the same, or under the level of yours. There's an lfs here that grows sps frags under very basic T5 in a shallow tanks and when input those under LEDs they really take off. But don't be afraid to just plop some frags of anything in there. Every coral is different. I can go with no water changes for two weeks and one sps will thrive and grow, while another looks dull. Great stuff! I definitely will be purchasing frags instead of huge piece of coral. But I won't be purchasing any of them from my LFS. Their prices are ridiculous, but I've read on my local reef forum there are many people that frag and sell their own corals. Surprisingly enough, there is a few people that have almost everything for around $5-$15 (of course depending on what type of coral it is). As for SPS, I was looking into the orange setosa and pink stylophora. I am not sure if you saw my forum link (http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/348980-shawnrivs-im-nuvo-38-build-tons-of-pictures/#entry4787270) but I have a Kessil A360W. Right now my tank is still cycling but I posted a picture of my test kits 24 hours after using the Bio-Spira and ammonia source. What coral chemicals do you recommend? I've read good things about Aquavitro's Fuel. Link to comment
pschom Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 So, since I sold some equipment a few things have been realized:1. I couldn't get rid of my clown pair 2. I realized that I wasn't happy with the scape3. I realized that I wasn't happy with the tank because I originally got this shallow as a look down, but with the water movement I could never actually look down unless I turned off all the pumps 4. I'm keeping the tank and starting over with the following in mind: no skimmer (noise was driving me crazy), Kessil lighting (which I've wanted forever), super minimalistic display with minimal water movement at the surface. And by minimalist display I mean not geared toward front viewing, but rather top viewing. I feel like I was always trying to scape it toward a nice front view, but it was so annoying to keep bending down to see things. The kessil gooseneck will be perfect for that with only a small obstruction. I have really changed things in the sump as well...for the last three plus hours... Cleaned everything, set up a new layout for macro algae and a deep sand bed in the sump. Have to get a grow light for the macros. Added a filter sock for the drain line and tightened things up a bit. Thanks guys for making me want to continue doing this and reminding me to fix the real problem instead of trying to find ways of giving up because I haven't thought it through....again!http://s1237.photobucket.com/user/Pschom/media/Mobile%20Uploads/3EE598B2-9CE8-439F-AE25-74D772284932_zpslaxh8g8z.jpg.html][/url] Also I should mention that I'm going SUPER minimalist on the corals. I feel like I keep trying to jam all these nice looking corals in there and wind up not liking the look of things, or can't find space, or keep changing..... Link to comment
pschom Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 Oh snaps very nice!! Ha thx. I'm motivated again. Gotta find some clear deer netting and re do the canopy. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Until you can figure out a permanent fuge light, get a clip-on aluminum reflector and a 23w (actual) CFL cool white bulb, will grow macros like wildfire, just change out the bulb every 3 months or so (they're even worse than T5 about bulb replacement, they lose intensity ultra fast). Can't wait to see what you turn it into Link to comment
shawnriv Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Sounds great! I'm happy to hear you're getting back in the game. I hope I wasn't the reason for your reef keeping relapse...especially with the Kessil idea. Lol. I'll be keeping in touch. Link to comment
pschom Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 Until you can figure out a permanent fuge light, get a clip-on aluminum reflector and a 23w (actual) CFL cool white bulb, will grow macros like wildfire, just change out the bulb every 3 months or so (they're even worse than T5 about bulb replacement, they lose intensity ultra fast). Can't wait to see what you turn it into Thx. I will be getting this tomorrow. You've saved me the trouble of researching! Making more water now. I'm waiting on the kessil until they tally up my trade ins at the lfs. And because I'm enjoying watching this algae DIE! Sounds great! I'm happy to hear you're getting back in the game. I hope I wasn't the reason for your reef keeping relapse...especially with the Kessil idea. Lol. I'll be keeping in touch. You should be proud! ha. Actually when I tore it apart I had some realizations which I hadn't admitted to myself until then. Or something like that. And I was like 'oh I could do it that way'. And I've wanted a kessil since I saw the A150 on a huge shallow setup at an lfs when they first came out. I'm amazed at what that thing can do and the shimmer effect is kick ass. Link to comment
pschom Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 ATO set up with 10 gallon reserve. Finally! http://s1237.photobucket.com/user/Pschom/media/749A73EA-260E-4DFB-B818-70AAEC64A91C_zpsp40s7sia.jpg.html'> Now to commence Hydroperoxidation... http://s1237.photobucket.com/user/Pschom/media/0C59D520-756A-4C0F-8064-800A0003FBD3_zps5u1p9skk.jpg.html'> Link to comment
pschom Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 Aragalive in sumphttp://s1237.photobucket.com/user/Pschom/media/0A5AE93D-3A7E-4A2D-97F1-09903978AD68_zpsrrajegjy.jpg.html'> I have nuked every algae infested rock...and 1 fish. Hopefully the fish makes it. That sucks. He was stuck in a rock. Stupid blennies. Link to comment
shawnriv Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 How did you "nuke" the algae infested rock? My rocks were covered with diatoms and cynobacteria. I ended up bleaching the rocks in a water/bleach mixture and then boiling the rocks in RO/DI water. I let them sit out in the sun and then added them to another bucket of new RO/DI water with a pump. I must say, the bleach does wonders. Link to comment
brad908 Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 hydrogen peroxide usually does a good job Link to comment
pschom Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 How did you "nuke" the algae infested rock? My rocks were covered with diatoms and cynobacteria. I ended up bleaching the rocks in a water/bleach mixture and then boiling the rocks in RO/DI water. I let them sit out in the sun and then added them to another bucket of new RO/DI water with a pump. I must say, the bleach does wonders. Hahaha wtf. That's quite the process. I didn't really want to kill everything on the rocks. Mixed a 50/50 solution of H2O2 and salt water from a water change. hydrogen peroxide usually does a good job Yeah I'm looking forward to 0 pest algae. Bryopsis was killing me. When I dunked one rock, so many bristle worms and pods came to the surface. Amazing what life's in our tanks that we never see. Unfortunately they died... Hopefully the blenny makes it. He doesn't look too good right now. Link to comment
shawnriv Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Oh yeah man, I wanted my rocks (originally BRS reef saver rock) to be back to their original white color before starting over. They were absolutely atrocious and I wanted to start over 110%. Your rocks were in good shape and had some real nice color. I am hoping for some nice coraline growth someday. I forgot to ask before, did you dose your system with anything? Calcium, Kalkwasser, etc? I have never dosed before and want to do it correctly. Link to comment
pschom Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 My two cents on dosing. If you don't have an electronic doser, don't bother. If you don't have an issue with coral color, growth, tank stability...don't bother. With dosing comes testing and you'll be up to your eyeballs in 'stuff' before you analyze and see if there was a problem, and if so what it actually was. If things look good, grow well and your happy with your system...why dose anything? Now salt IMO is different. I only use Reef Crystals because of the results. I've tried 4 different salts and that has worked the best for me. Regular IO, meh. IORC...kick ass. Keep up with water changes and see how it goes. Once you get your coral situated avoid the urge to tinker. Let them grow out. Takes forever. But if you just do WCs and wait a few months, things will be awesome! And btw, yes I have tried dosing everything from A&B solutions, to kalk, to using an air pump with a reactor to balance ph... All had little to no effect. Link to comment
pschom Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 The barren, yet peaceful, scape http://s1237.photobucket.com/user/Pschom/media/150BE3B1-E575-459C-B8B6-A6600E1040BA_zpsustenhsb.jpg.html'> Link to comment
pschom Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 The peroxide dips were almost successful. Probably need one more on a couple of the really infested rocks. The tank has been blacked out for days and the only thing that's gone in the cyano. Dam bryopsis remains... Link to comment
shawnriv Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 The peroxide dips were almost successful. Probably need one more on a couple of the really infested rocks. The tank has been blacked out for days and the only thing that's gone in the cyano. Dam bryopsis remains... Cough...bleach...cough. Excuse me. Lol. Link to comment
brad908 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 New rock. So much effort and time to clean rock Link to comment
pschom Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Nope. Just got this so... http://www.apeks.co.uk/products/product_cats_results.asp?Lan=ENG&Product=Black%20Ice Link to comment
brad908 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I was watching some army divers unit documentary last night and thought of you lol Link to comment
pschom Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Until you can figure out a permanent fuge light, get a clip-on aluminum reflector and a 23w (actual) CFL cool white bulb, will grow macros like wildfire, just change out the bulb every 3 months or so (they're even worse than T5 about bulb replacement, they lose intensity ultra fast). Can't wait to see what you turn it into I picked up Bright White bulbs by mistake. Will they work? Link to comment
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