Chucktown 20H

[divecj5]

I hope it helps.

 

There may be something to your idea of a more stirred up sandbed releasing "junk" into the tank.

 

Thanks Weetie I think stirring things up has had a lot to do with it. Should have just left it alone

 

Going to stock up on some salt next week and proceed with some fairly large (3 gal) water changes 2-3x a week to get things back in check. I'm also considering ditching the skimmer and adding my AC70 back on as a refugium with macro algae so I may be on the lookout for some chaeto and other good stuff *hint hint*

 

I don't want to change too many things at one time so I'll be taking it slow as always.

[DaveFason]

I hope the knano works for you. What about two MP10 ESw's....

 

-Dave

[dtfleming]

I hope it helps.

 

There may be something to your idea of a more stirred up sandbed releasing "junk" into the tank.

 

 

Thanks Weetie I think stirring things up has had a lot to do with it. Should have just left it alone

 

Going to stock up on some salt next week and proceed with some fairly large (3 gal) water changes 2-3x a week to get things back in check. I'm also considering ditching the skimmer and adding my AC70 back on as a refugium with macro algae so I may be on the lookout for some chaeto and other good stuff *hint hint*

 

I don't want to change too many things at one time so I'll be taking it slow as always.

 

Yes this will cause you problems. I just replaced my sand bed in my tank. It had been in there for 2-3 years and it basically became a phosphate trap.

[divecj5]

I hope the knano works for you. What about two MP10 ESw's....

 

-Dave

 

I hope so too...might actually add another one on the other side of the tank if I can find another one locally for cheap. They really are tiny in comparison to the other Koralias.

 

If you want to buy me two MP10 ESw's, I'd be more than happy to put them in the tank

 

 

Yes this will cause you problems. I just replaced my sand bed in my tank. It had been in there for 2-3 years and it basically became a phosphate trap.

 

Glad to see you swing by the thread again. How did you go about replacing your sand bed? Little bit at a time? How did you avoid a sand storm and releasing all of the "goodies" all at once? If you don't mind, can I PM you and get the details? Might consider this in another month or so as the sand bed in this is getting to the 1 1/2 yr mark and may be causing my problems.

[Deleted User 6]

this is old tank syndrome, no?

[divecj5]

this is old tank syndrome, no?

 

Yup. Guess I better scurry off and bone up on my reading.

[divecj5]

I'm probably going to jinx myself, but honestly, things looked A LOT better yesterday afternoon when the lights turned on and there was definitely less visible cyano by the time the lights went off. Maybe, just maybe, the addition of the K Nano was one step towards a solution.

 

Let's hope....

 

Here's one observation that I find interesting. Over the last couple of weeks, I've been slowly turning up my MP20 to the point where last week, it was blasting at 100% on Lagoon Mode. As I mentioned before, that resulted in blasting the flesh off of 1/2 of my ORA Cali Tort colony and doing absolutely nothing to assuage the cyano. After I picked up the Nano on Tuesday, I started dialing the MP20 back. Right now, the MP20 is running at about 50% and the SPS and LPS have NEVER looked better.

 

I guess more is not necessarily always better....seems like the key is gentle, random, and diffuse flow throughout the entire tank. It's amazing how this hobby is a continual learning experience....even after 5 solid years of trial and error.

[Weetabix7]

Couldn't agree with you more.

[tangov559]

Tunze makes a nice mini powerhead that has adjustable flow.

I believe Premium Aquatics carries it.

Smaller than a Knano.

 

On the cyano, have you checked your RO/DI filters?

 

which powerhead is this?

[Weetabix7]

which powerhead is this?

 

http://premiumaquatics.com/store/merchant....ode=Tunze_pumps

[divecj5]

Thanks for posting the link Weetie...might be picking one of these up in the near future to place in the middle of the tank facing the front glass. From the reviews, it sounds like it can move a good bit of water for it's small size.

 

By the way, things are looking up in the Chucktown Reef

[Weetabix7]

Awesome!!!

[nUgZ]

That's good to hear man.

[tangov559]

thanks for the link..i didn't know these exist..good price too.

[davidr2340]

Thanks for posting the link Weetie...might be picking one of these up in the near future to place in the middle of the tank facing the front glass. From the reviews, it sounds like it can move a good bit of water for it's small size.

 

By the way, things are looking up in the Chucktown Reef

Hi5 Adam... Glad things are looking up for you!!!

[divecj5]

Hi5 Adam... Glad things are looking up for you!!!

 

Thanks...me too. I think if I add one more K Nano or one of those small Tunze powerheads, things will really be healthy and happy.

[Deleted User 6]

Adam, we gots to trade frags soon.

[divecj5]

Adam, we gots to trade frags soon.

 

Definitely. Let me make sure I have a grip on this cyano and then we can work something up.

[divecj5]

I'm in search of some feedback/suggestions.....figured this would be a great place to start

 

I think that it's inevitable that I will need to replace my sand bed sometime over the next couple of months. All of my attempts to keep it clean are appearing to be futile. Although things look A LOT better after adding the Koralia Nano and keeping my hands off the sand bed, there are still some ever present patches that will eventually drive me to full on alcoholism. Not really, but it will drive me mad in the end.

 

In the past, I've considered having a piece of white or black starboard custom cut and going bare bottom. I can get the starboard cut and shipped for a decent price HERE but I want to make sure I'm aware of all of the pros and cons before making a final decision. The price to replace the sand with either starboard or new sand is about the same.

 

Just wondering if anyone following has run their tanks bare bottom, whether it's something that I should consider, or whether I should just quit this crazy talk and replace the current cesspool with some pearly white aragonite instead

 

Thoughts?

[spanko]

Hey Adam, couple of thoughts here.

 

First not gonna go back and try to figure out you sand shifting critters in tank, but have always been a proponent of having and abundance or nassarius and cerith snails to contantly eat the meaty and herbiverous stuff that accumulates. If you have done any reading on DSB's these types of critters seem to be the most important part of keeping a well functioning bed. Also the Florida Fighting Conch is another wonderful critter to work the upper layer of the tank keeping it clean.

 

I have run bare bottom before and actually did like it. Only changed because I wanted a jawfish. The bare bottom tank allows of course increase flow along with at "drop point" for detritus that happens in an area where the flow slows a little and the detritus drops out of suspension. There it is readily available to siphoning at water change.

 

Never had starboard but would worry that if it were not sealed against the bottom of the tank or the side walls that detritus could work its way under it and cause problems down the road.

 

Just my $0.02 FWIW

[Deleted User 6]

A, bare bottoms are all about the look. If you like it, go with it (makes life really easy). If you don't like it, don't go with it.

 

How many ceriths/nass do you have, like Henry said? In your 20H, I would drop in about 40 dwarf ceriths if I were you. They'll eat the cyano and stir the bed really nicely. Supplement with a few small nass and some full-sized ceriths, and you have a nice group of snails that will turn the sand bed constantly.

[divecj5]

Never had starboard but would worry that if it were not sealed against the bottom of the tank or the side walls that detritus could work its way under it and cause problems down the road.

 

This is and has been my main concern with going with Starboard for bare bottom. Might have to do some hunting around to see how others have handled it. Definitely seems like a prime place for detritus to build up and cause problems.

 

How many ceriths/nass do you have, like Henry said? In your 20H, I would drop in about 40 dwarf ceriths if I were you. They'll eat the cyano and stir the bed really nicely. Supplement with a few small nass and some full-sized ceriths, and you have a nice group of snails that will turn the sand bed constantly.

 

I've actually lost count as I've gotten several orders from Reef Cleaners, and you know how John is about counting. This is a general ball park -

• Dwarf Ceriths - at least 25 living (not very active)
  
• Florida Ceriths - added about 25 last month
  
• Nassarius - got around 15-20 last month
  

 

I figured they would keep things in check but honestly, a lot of them ended up dying and I hardly ever see any moving around the sand bed. Guess they are just scared of the cyano

[Deleted User 6]

Hmm...did you end up checking your phos/nitrate?

[divecj5]

Hmm...did you end up checking your phos/nitrate?

 

Not yet....going to break out the test kits during lunch.

[Deleted User 6]

I bet the issue lies in the fact that you were artificially boosting your bacteria population and reducing nutrients through dosing, and now your tank is having to re-mature. Bac populations can be thought of like a pendulum of booms and busts until coming to rest at equilibrium over time. You re-swung the pendulum when you stopped dosing, I bet. It usually takes months for a tank to mature (as you know) and I would be willing to bet that your cyano issue is an outworking of that pendulum.