Uhuru Posted September 11, 2009 Author Share Posted September 11, 2009 Awesome! I love the drip feeding method. So was it just some PVC? What did you use to secure it to the wall of the tank. I think that's a pretty ingenious method! Yup, just some PVC! It was a trial version, if I stuck with that method I would have painted it black. I just used a zip tie and tied it to the return pipe. Unfortunately that method didn't work out. The solution would defrost too quickly. As you can see above I ended up going with a syringe pump for more control. Now if you keep your house in the 60's then it might work a lot better. Certainly during the winters here in Ohio I keep my house at about 67-68F which would slow down the drip rate considerably. Link to comment
Maeda Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 wtf? Syringe pump? o.O Link to comment
Uhuru Posted September 12, 2009 Author Share Posted September 12, 2009 I have been dripping a new, more simplified food mixture consisting of: 50% Phyto-feast (will replace this with Shellfish diet later), 25% Roti-feast, and 25% Oyster feast. The solution is very dense and stinky. 15mL/day continuously. I do not dilute it at all, and the syringe pump seems to be doing an excellent job of dosing this to the tank at a very precise rate. So far things are looking good. Sclero is inflated and Gorgs are open almost all the time. Tubastrea are open all the time. I like this mixture a lot better. The dry portion of the diet: Ultra min F, Ultra Clam and soon to be added Ultra Sea Fan and Freeze Dried Cyclopleeze is working out great with the eheim auto feeder. I have a feeling this is the main element of the diet that the gorgs are responding to. In a separate container I have made a mix consisting of: Ultra Pac, Ultra Clam, Ultra Min S, Prodibio BioDigest (bacteria), Prodibio ReefBooster (fatty acid supplement), KZ Coral Snow and saltwater. This will provide the "enhanced coral mucus" portion of the diet that is believed to play a role in survival of dendronephthya and possibly other azoox corals. Right now it is sitting for 24 hrs at room temp, as described in the instructions. I believe this has to do with the Ultra Pac absorbing the nutrients. For now I am going to try dosing this with a dosing pump. I may get another syringe pump for this, but it can at least be kept at room temp for a week. Finally, in another container that will be aerated and lit, I'm planning to dose live phytoplankton, also through a dosing pump. Separating the diet into 4 different mixtures will hopefully give me the control I need to figure out what actually works best! Link to comment
divecj5 Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 Your husbandry and care for your tank inhabitants never ceases to amaze me. That's what I call taking care of your tank. Any new pics? Link to comment
Uhuru Posted September 14, 2009 Author Share Posted September 14, 2009 I have one new pic! I am seeing definite increase in polyp expansion in the scleronephthya. This could be simply because it is getting more acclimated, or it could be that the new food mix is more suitable. Time will tell.... old food mix: new food mx: Sorry that my current camera sucks and you can't see the details. These guys have tiny little polyps, and they fluoresce so brightly (under ANY light) that my camera struggles to focus. My new camera will be here soon... but then I need to get a macro lens. Link to comment
Uhuru Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Been having pH issues. Lots of organics leading to excess CO2 in water. I have started dosing a small amount of kalk to eat up the CO2 and reduced vodka dosing to reduce bacteria which eat up O2 and produce more CO2. Here are some fresh pics. Yes the water is slightly green, I'm getting the best response from heavy heavy plankton dosing. Going to be increasing wc's to 25% 2x/wk. I no longer use the vortech controller to control the pump. The long pulse mode is not really long enough to simulate laminar flow. I am using an ACjr to oscillate 15 min on/3 min off. I hope ecotech adds something like this to their controllers in the future. The mp10 runs at about 90% or about 68x turnover. Link to comment
Paleoreef103 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 This is awesome! So that's what a Carnation coral looks like when it's thriving! This was an awesome idea for a tank and it's very well pulled off! Link to comment
scottyreef Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 well your on the right track with heavy feeding for the Carnation since in 90% cases they never get enough food since they are such veracious feeders. have you considered doing the upside down method so as the coral doesn't collapse under its own weight. thats what i had to do when i keep my system that contained one of these guys. great tank anyway Link to comment
Uhuru Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Yeah its crazy how much feeding they really need. I thought I was dosing a lot for the first week but wasn't getting a good response. I kept increasing little by little and still not looking too good. I said screw it and doubled the dosing. Within a couple days it perked up and now stays inflated MOST of the time. I am currently dosing 50mL/day of concentrated phyto/rotifer/oyster egg products, in addition to automated dosing of dry planktonic feeds and manual feeding of frozen feeds. They are also VERY sensitive to flow. I played around with the flow forever. Finally said screw the vortech controller and found the right setting with long intervals of strong laminar flow. The problem I am having now is my rhizo's are very unhappy with the flow. I might try adding a coral in such a way as to block how much is actually hitting the rhizos. Another dendronephthya or something that loves strong currents. Link to comment
got2envy Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 The microbubble problem is due to poor sump design combined with the vortech mp10. If I turn down either pump, the microbubbles go away. But, this is a reef tank, most of us (and our corals) like high flow. I think elos needs to redesign the sump, and vortech needs to put a guard on the top portion like they do on the mp40's so it doesn't suck in air from the surface. It is so powerful I have seen it create a vortech (pun intended) 5-6" down from the surface. So, there is no solution for me right now. I just kinda deal with it. It will be the last thing on my list once I get everything else settled and running smoothly. Honestly I always have small particulate matter/pods floating around in the tank anyways so it just kind of blends on. Hey Uhuru the tank is looking great! The Vortech shouldn't be causing a vortech Make sure that the wet side has the part with the larger black piece facing upwards and the the slitted side is facing down...I had mine upside down at one point and this fixed the problem with sucking the water from the surface, I have my MP20 about 3-4 inches from the surface with no problems Link to comment
Maeda Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 50mL did I read that right? This is bonkers. Link to comment
Uhuru Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Hey Uhuru the tank is looking great!The Vortech shouldn't be causing a vortech Make sure that the wet side has the part with the larger black piece facing upwards and the the slitted side is facing down...I had mine upside down at one point and this fixed the problem with sucking the water from the surface, I have my MP20 about 3-4 inches from the surface with no problems Thanks! The MP20 and MP40 have a black cover on the upper part of the cage to prevent this problem - that is true. But the MP10 does not have anything like that due to the smaller footprint. I used black silicone to cover the upper slits on the pump, and am happy to report I no longer have microbubbles. 50mL did I read that right? This is bonkers. I know... ridiculous! Link to comment
Uhuru Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 have you considered doing the upside down method so as the coral doesn't collapse under its own weight. sorry forgot to respond to this... yes I would like to try that with my big tank to see if there is a difference in the amount of time they are inflated/deflated, but I just don't have the room in this tank. I imagine there could be a difference in the amount of energy expended having to stay upright vs hanging upside down. Link to comment
Maeda Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 what would you say is the secret to keeping the tank clean? flow design? skimming? w/c's ? Link to comment
Uhuru Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 All of the above have to be spot on, or problems will arise quick. When I didn't have the flow right, I had cyano in dead spots. Even with heavy skimming, I am going to be doing wc's 2x/wk, totaling 50% water changed every week. The other thing is the equipment gets gunk build up on it really fast. I have two of every pump, and rotate things out every couple of weeks while the dirty pump gets a vinegar bath. The only pump I don't have 2 of is the vortech, but that's very easy to clean since its just the wet side. I also change carbon every 2 wks, and vacuum the sump with my eheim sludge extractor with every wc. I have tons of nassarius snails and also stir up the sand every couple of days. Link to comment
Maeda Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 doesn't sound allll that different then keeping a clean sps tank... although i'm SURE your margin for error is miniscule. The 2 pump strategy should be EVERYONES strategy regardless of what kind of tank they're keeping. It just makes life so much easier, and worry free. I use the same strategy, although I cannot find another Laguna return pump, so I just clean that one twice a year. Link to comment
Uhuru Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 recent night time shot: Link to comment
Jamie Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 wow. I've never seen dendronephthya look so happy in a closed system. good job!!! Link to comment
divecj5 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 That's an incredible shot. Keep up the great work and husbandry. Always look forward to the shots of your unique tank and coral selection. -Adam Link to comment
solelysoulful Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 it looks so clean! sweet. Link to comment
BlueAbyss Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Amazing! If you don't mind, what are the dimensions of the tank? Link to comment
Uhuru Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 Thanks guys! I think dimensions are 17 cubed. Link to comment
PODPIMP Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Wow that's beautiful!!! Great job. Just curious, feeding 50ml per day, does the tank stay cloudy most of the time? Link to comment
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