StevieT's Red Sea Max Experience

[StevieT]

Here's what you can expect from your camera and housing, rather than the high end equipment used in the other posting. http://picasaweb.google.com/jim.dantin/Mau...758286254065010 These shots were taken before the lens fogged up and ruined the remaining shots. I'm going to try some RSM shots when I get a chance.

Thanks jim I will take a look when I get to a computer. I am bringing along this anti fog gel, more like a wax when it dries that my dad uses on the mask. I would imagine it would work well on the housing to keep fog away as long as it doest mess with the focus of the camera. It whipes off the mask very even and clear so hopefully this can solve the fog issue. Have you tried something similar?

[Reefmack]

nanoob - what StevieT says is correct. However, I've started 2 tanks (RSM and a 9G) using fully cured live rock, clean "unlive" substrate, and adding a product a product called Bio-Spira (Marine version) with the rock, and another dose a week later with the first fish. Using multiple test kits, I never had a measurable cycle at all - just some the end product nitrates. I've used the FW version of Bio-Spira in FW tanks with the same results. Bio-Spira isn't cheap and has to be kept under refrigeration, so a lot of lfs don't carry it, but it has worked wonders for me several times and I swear by the stuff - it's a live bacterial culture with a lot of research into it, finding the correct bacteria, and for me it's done wonders. And I only had a minimal diatom phase and very little green hair algae, If the "secret recipe" you got at the lfs is like Bio-Spira, it just may have you cycled already.

[nanoob]

Wow! Thanks to Reefmack and Stevie for your patience and input.

 

I dunno if it biospira... it is brownish moist powder with a slight musky smell. I would have preferred a normal cycle if not for the unsold coral that the previous owner passed me... I am really fond of it. Now it seems to be doing well. I'll measure the water parameter to objectively gauge the condition of the tank. Some coralline algae seems to be doing well now. Will post picture of the coral which really respond dramatically to diffferent water conditions. Never expect corals to look so dramatically different under different water conditions.

 

As for underwater casing, I used Canon A620 with underwater casing for diving and snorkelling photography. Yet to use in the tank. The main difficulty is getting it stable underwater, shadow and having enough space for focus. Leakage had never been a problem. I also have a Canon 350D with canon 100mm macro lens and ring flash. However it seems that the focus is out when taking photo at an acute angle to the glass tank. Anyone with the similar experience?

[Reefmack]

nanoob - nope - that's not Bio-Spira, which is a semi-clear milky liquid that comes in packets. I never had luck with any of the other powder or liquid innoculants, but maybe that stuff the lfs gave you is alive and just as good if it's moist. That musky smell may mean it's a bacteria scum that they scrape out of a filter in their system. Track your ammonia, nitrites & nitrates for a few days & see how it goes.

[nanoob]

The water parameters are now SG 1.023, pH8.3-8.4, NH3/4 at less than 0.2ppm, nitrite at 0.05ppm and nitrate at less than 5ppm. Copepods and filamentous green algae is growing and more fan worms showing up in the live rocks. The coral seems well. The turbo snails are feeding and giving out loads of faecal material. Gonna try out the Bio spira in my next aquarium at home. Thanks Reefmack for the info.

 

Gonna get the media rack from Stevie as the media are difficult to retrieve without it.

[StevieT]

The water parameters are now SG 1.023, pH8.3-8.4, NH3/4 at less than 0.2ppm, nitrite at 0.05ppm and nitrate at less than 5ppm. Copepods and filamentous green algae is growing and more fan worms showing up in the live rocks. The coral seems well. The turbo snails are feeding and giving out loads of faecal material. Gonna try out the Bio spira in my next aquarium at home. Thanks Reefmack for the info.

 

Gonna get the media rack from Stevie as the media are difficult to retrieve without it.

 

Please see these links for info:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;#entry1605489

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;#entry1689249

 

 

Personal message me or email me at steve.taggart@us.atlascopco.com for a quote including shipping.

[StevieT]

Alright, underwater camera case came in UPS today!!! Some shots of the opperation

 

The case itself, very nice construction, now I understand why it is so expensive. You can control all functions of the camera underwater, which is very nice since I like to play with the manual modes while shooting corals/fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check, will not use as a life jacket

 

 

All of these shots are unedited, untouched and very first run, did not mess with too many color/light levels on the camera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With light diffusion plate and flash on

 

 

 

Back off

 

 

 

photo limit

[StevieT]

 

 

My mistake frag taking off, broke while attaching larger section

 

 

 

 

Mr. Pep man was checking out what I was doing in his world

 

 

Monkeys !!!!!!!!!

 

[lilredneckman]

Wow Stevie! Your confusa looks amazing! I wish mine was that colorful. Is there anything i could do to change that? It is high up and seems to be happy. I am also dosing B-ionic daily and everything seems to be in check. I just don't know what to do!

[StevieT]

It took that coral 4-5 months to start growing after I received it. I just recenly saw that it is starting to take shape. Yet it has always had that nice green color. Maybe just time like with mine. I actually thought it was dead at one time or almost gone. I used it as the example in my how to glue thread, at that time I thought it had no chance, but used it for the example since it was just unattached in my tank.

 

High light, time, and good water perams I would imagine, nothing too special.

 

Are you needing that much b-ionic? I only dose say once or twice a week with a similar product, calc seems to stay in check for 2-4 days plus water changes bump it back up.

 

Before

 

 

 

after

 

[lilredneckman]

My Alk has been pretty good my my calk has been low. I am just now bringing it back up to like 430. I think pretty soon i am going to start dosing every other day and see how everything holds up.

 

I hope mine perks up like yours did! I am probably going to order new bulbs within a few days. Mine are just about to hit the 7 month mark.

[Reefmack]

StevieT - the new case is great looking. I'll have to see what's available for my XTI. The pictures came out great too. I didn't see any taken inside the sea monkey jar though LOL! I dose daily too - Kent Tech CB, and adjust weekly as needed based on Saturday tests. I suppose I might get by with less frequent dosing but I'm afraid if I increase a less frequent dose to make up for missing some, I might shock things. Looks like your ready for some real reef pictures!

[jc16]

may i ask what lighting you are using for you tank?

[Phullbrick]

calc seems to stay in check for 2-4 days plus water changes bump it back up.

 

is that enough to keep your calc at required level ? you mean you don't need to add by yourself ?

 

ps : your pictures are are stunning !

[StevieT]

is that enough to keep your calc at required level ? you mean you don't need to add by yourself ?

 

ps : your pictures are are stunning !

 

 

No, I mean I do add calcium back to the tank every 2-4 days, more like every three. If I do a weekly water change then I dose less. If I skip a week then I dose more. I use a two part solution called C-Ballance to get calc. and alk to proper levels. But they seems to hold for 2-4 days, average would be 3 days.

 

may i ask what lighting you are using for you tank?

 

 

Red Sea Max stock lighting.

 

2 55W T5 50/50 bulbs with PC connections.

[lilredneckman]

There magical bulbs.

[StevieT]

There magical bulbs.

 

 

haha, i wanted to say that, but didn't want to confuse anyone.

 

They are very magical

[Phullbrick]

No, I mean I do add calcium back to the tank every 2-4 days, more like every three. If I do a weekly water change then I dose less. If I skip a week then I dose more. I use a two part solution called C-Ballance to get calc. and alk to proper levels. But they seems to hold for 2-4 days, average would be 3 days.

 

Ok I understand now, sorry for my previous misunderstanding.

 

I am using the Red Sea Buffer combined with the Red Sea Calcium +3 atm but I was curious to know what was your method

 

Same observation about the water change, I use Red Sea Coral Pro salt and it helps to keep Calcium at proper level.

[jc16]

wow so your sps do fine under pc's? so my t5ho should be plenty?

[lilredneckman]

Red Sea Max stock lighting.

 

2 55W T5 50/50 bulbs with PC connections.

 

Did you not read this????

[StevieT]

wow so your sps do fine under pc's? so my t5ho should be plenty?

 

 

Yes,

 

but they are not PC bubls. They do have PC connections for power, but the bulb size is T5, they put out much stronger light than PC and they are 55w, not 65w like with crappy CF lighting. So I can grow my SPS up top just fine because I have T5 lighting and a good reflector.

 

Your SPS will do just fine up high in your aquarium, water quality and trace elements are also very important as well.

 

Did you not read this????

 

 

it's confusing, crazy red sea bulbs.

[lilredneckman]

Yes,

 

but they are not PC bubls. They do have PC connections for power, but the bulb size is T5, they put out much stronger light than PC and they are 55w, not 65w like with crappy CF lighting. So I can grow my SPS up top just fine because I have T5 lighting and a good reflector.

 

Your SPS will do just fine up high in your aquarium, water quality and trace elements are also very important as well.

 

 

 

 

it's confusing, crazy red sea bulbs.

I know, stupid bulbs

[jjhill]

Great thread!

 

I'm a newbie to this hobby, although I have a background in aquatic ecology so at least the science behind the hobby is familiar to me. I have had my RSM up and running for about 2 months now. So far it has been a fun and painful experience. I had several algae problems from diatoms, to cyno-bacteria to green hair algae. Most of my work to date has been trying to control algae. Fortunately most of that is cleared up and I am now focusing on making everything much more efficient. So far being a newbie I have done 0 modifications and have been running everything totally stock.

 

I am thinking it is time for some modifications now to improve performance. Right now I am basically running a fish only with live rock system, however I want to start adding some corals as soon as I can. I understand from this thread that I can remove the ceramic bio filter from the back and that should help control my nitrates? Right now I find they are hard to keep down. I have about 30 lbs live rock and 20 lbs live sand so I should have enough natural filtration to be able to remove the ceramics is that right?

 

My other problem has been dialing in the stock skimmer. I would like to eventually do the Tunze upgrade but for the meantime is there anything I can do with the stock skimmer to improve its performance?

 

I have added a media bag of chemi-pure to the left side of the skimmer by the heater. I tried to add it to the left side by the intact comb but had a lot of problems with flow. On the left I don't seem to have as much problems. Is there any other modifications that you think I should do?

 

So far the tank is pretty basic with 2 clown fish, a royal dotty back, coral banded shrimp, yellow wrasse, a lawnmower blenny and a condy anemone. Do you have any suggestions for some hardy corals that a beginner like me could add without too much trouble? How do you develop the coraline algae on the live rock?

 

Any suggestions will be appreciated. If it helps I can add some pics later today after work.

[StevieT]

Great thread!

 

I'm a newbie to this hobby, although I have a background in aquatic ecology so at least the science behind the hobby is familiar to me. I have had my RSM up and running for about 2 months now. So far it has been a fun and painful experience. I had several algae problems from diatoms, to cyno-bacteria to green hair algae. Most of my work to date has been trying to control algae. Fortunately most of that is cleared up and I am now focusing on making everything much more efficient. So far being a newbie I have done 0 modifications and have been running everything totally stock.

 

I am thinking it is time for some modifications now to improve performance. Right now I am basically running a fish only with live rock system, however I want to start adding some corals as soon as I can. I understand from this thread that I can remove the ceramic bio filter from the back and that should help control my nitrates? Right now I find they are hard to keep down. I have about 30 lbs live rock and 20 lbs live sand so I should have enough natural filtration to be able to remove the ceramics is that right?

 

My other problem has been dialing in the stock skimmer. I would like to eventually do the Tunze upgrade but for the meantime is there anything I can do with the stock skimmer to improve its performance?

 

I have added a media bag of chemi-pure to the left side of the skimmer by the heater. I tried to add it to the left side by the intact comb but had a lot of problems with flow. On the left I don't seem to have as much problems. Is there any other modifications that you think I should do?

 

So far the tank is pretty basic with 2 clown fish, a royal dotty back, coral banded shrimp, yellow wrasse, a lawnmower blenny and a condy anemone. Do you have any suggestions for some hardy corals that a beginner like me could add without too much trouble? How do you develop the coraline algae on the live rock?

 

Any suggestions will be appreciated. If it helps I can add some pics later today after work.

 

 

Yes, remove the bioballs, they do nothing but trap detritues which leads to nitrates, that bag is the worst for catching everything. What are your nitrates at? I wouldn't add any more corals to the tank unless you control that first, or at least get them down around 20 before putting in hardy corals. And yes, 30 lbs should be enough, you could probably even do 40 and that would give you more room to house corals on. It all depends on how you wnat the tank to look, I usually aim for around 1.5 lbs of rock/gallon of water.

 

Algae stages are pretty normal and a part of every tanks cycle, so controlling them may hinder a few things. Did you do anything chemically to the tank to control algae? Or have you been managing phosphate levels. A lawnmower blenny can help, but they often starve in a small aquarium because of the lack of naturally growing algae.

 

I am surprised you had a condy anem on your list of stocking. Anems need very strong light, high flow and a very mature tank to stay alive. A 2 month old tank surely doesn't have the stability of water perams and with nitrates, it is going to hurt this coral. I would look into removing that before it gets sucked into your filtration or possibly dies.

 

On the skimmer, well there isn't much you can do. There have been many tries at improving the impeller, drilling holes in the lid, putting a tube on the output to direct the bubble upwards, and almost everything has failed, mainly because that stock skimmer is a huge failure. The only adjustment you can do to make it perform is with the credit card, and a hammer, credit card is for the Tunze 9002 and the hammer is for your frustruation at Red Sea for wasting your money I would say almost every RSM user at one time will upgrade their skimmer.

 

I would also add more flow to the tank before adding any corals. Look into a Koralia #1 or #2, the stock powerheads are just not enough for a lot of corals, and the koralias are such nice pumps that dispurse flow instead of blast it.

 

I would say you are at your max fish stocking on this tank as well. 5-6 small fish is the limit.

 

Coralline algae comes from calcium and proper levels of alkanity in the water. If you are managing weekly water changes with a good salt, and keeping your calc between 420-480 it will start to grow. It all comes with time. Calcium is not as important in a fish only setup, but with a reef it is very important. It grows on the glass a lot faster than on rocks, but with anything in this hobby, patience and time

 

I would look into softie corals such as zoas and mushrooms for a beginner, the condy isn't a beginner coral, even though they do sell them dirt cheap. Other would be frogspawn, hammer... basically get those water perams right first to save yourself money. I would start with some zoas and see how it goes. Look around this site for other info, there are writeups of what corals do best at what time.

 

Hope that helps.

[jjhill]

Thanks for your reply. Its nice to have some additional resources as I continue to learn the hobby. There is a lot of conflicting information to sort through.

 

Your information on the condy anemone is almost the exact opposite of what the guy at the LFS told me, which makes me worry about some of the other advice he has given. He told me they are very hardy and an easy anenome to keep. So far it seems pretty healthy but I will keep a closer eye on it.

 

To date my worst problems have been dealing with algae. The worst was the red cyno-bacteria. to get rid of it I used a two stage approach. I used some of the chemi-clean to get rid of it, but I know that only treats the symptoms and not the cause, so I also made some other changes such as going from once a day feedings to every other day to limit the nutrients feeding the algae. I also cut back on my lighting from 12 hours a day to 8.5 hours a day. With the chemi-clean to get rid of it and the other changes so far it has not come back. Although it has only been about 2 weeks. Right now I still have ample hair algae that the lawnmower blenny is working on and have developed just over the last couple days some brown diatoms. My phosphate levels in the tank is undetectable, and has been for the last two weeks so I am thinking that the diatoms are feeding on silicates which the stock skimmer is having trouble removing. My nitrates are typically between 10 and 15. They will rarely get higher then 20 before a water change to lower them. Hopefully once remove the bio balls I can keep this even lower, which in turn will help the algae problem. Does this seem to make sense or am I misunderstanding the science behind algae growth?

 

Also I have never checked calcium and alkalinty. Is this something I should be doing? All I do is weekly water changes with bottled water from the store that has been passed through a R/O filter and the usual SPG, ammonia, pH, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate tests.

 

I also do have just two small corals at the moment which I was given. They too seem to be doing ok, and have been in the tank two weeks. Any help in their identification? (pics to follow). Thanks again for your help. Any other suggestions on dealing with the diatoms and where to go from here?

 

 

Full tank shot

 

 

Unidentified coral number 1

 

 

Unidentified coral number 2

 

 

Algae on the rocks

 

 

What I believe is brown diatoms

 

 

Brown diatoms on the sand

 

 

Green hair algae on the smoke screen at the back of the tank.

 

 

The condy anemone with green algae on the glass

 

 

Another full tank shot.

 

Comments and suggestions from anyone are welcome as I am still trying to learn as much as I can about the hobby.