rb1685 Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 /drool on your LEDS, edison strips or CREE? (sorry, only read the last page here) your tanks looking really nice, plan for room to allow things to grow and get bigger! CREEs. I've heard nothing but great things about them, so I spent the extra $. Well worth it IMO. Thanks for the compliment! I hope to finish my stocking by the end of July, and sit back and watch things grow out. Link to comment
ScubaRyan Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Nice tank! Hopefully mine looks nice too! Cant wait to start adding things!! Link to comment
rb1685 Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 Added a bunch of new stuff this weekend. Blue Hawkins Echinata Bali Green Slimer Acro Green Duncans Pink & Green Pocillopora Pair of Black & White Percula Clowns (iPhone's slow shutter = ) I bought a Rainbow Lobophyllia, but it melted the second day I had it. I chalk it up to improper acclimation or it was sick to begin with. I also had a torch that mysteriously disappeared..... I've been having a small problem with Cyano - but I assume it could because of the extra feeding/bioload on the tank. I'm doing several water changes a week to see if it dissipates. I'm also considering the purchase of a chiller, if I can find a good price on one. The Texas heat has really had an effect on the tank. Link to comment
rb1685 Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 Where is the FTS? I forgot to take one. After work today. My RKL should be there when I get home too. By the way, I'm almost always available on Saturdays & Sundays. I'd have to plan for a trip down there though, so just let me know when is a good day for you. Link to comment
Maddevil1 Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 I forgot to take one. After work today. My RKL should be there when I get home too. By the way, I'm almost always available on Saturdays & Sundays. I'd have to plan for a trip down there though, so just let me know when is a good day for you. I might be able to do July 2nd since my wife works that day. I'll let you know for sure next week. Link to comment
rb1685 Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 Cool. Just pm me. I got my RKL yesterday, so I was too preoccupied to get a FTS. That thing is awesome! There are way more features than I'll ever need, but it will definitely be a nice luxury. I'm glad I ordered an extra PC4, though. I have all my lights & fans on one PC4, with pumps and heater on the other. My next step will be the ALC module, so I can do crazy stuff with the LEDs. How do you like your MP10 in the BC14? I really want one, but I could really stand to get a chiller. If I could find a JBJ 1/15 for a good price, I'll get it. There was one for $190 in the classified forums the other day, but I missed it. Link to comment
Maddevil1 Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 Cool. Just pm me. I got my RKL yesterday, so I was too preoccupied to get a FTS. That thing is awesome! There are way more features than I'll ever need, but it will definitely be a nice luxury. I'm glad I ordered an extra PC4, though. I have all my lights & fans on one PC4, with pumps and heater on the other. My next step will be the ALC module, so I can do crazy stuff with the LEDs. How do you like your MP10 in the BC14? I really want one, but I could really stand to get a chiller. If I could find a JBJ 1/15 for a good price, I'll get it. There was one for $190 in the classified forums the other day, but I missed it. Know anyone local who wants some GSP? Yea the RKL is pretty awesome. Took some time for me to figure out how to set it up like I wanted. I really like the MP10, buts its way under used. Get the chiller first, in my opinion. When I go home today, I need to figure out why my LED actinics stopped working It happened sometime yesterday. I suspect the driver...buy we'll see. Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 +1 mp10 is totally awesome, but i have to leave it at like the 4th LED (about 30-40%) Reefcrest, otherwise it blows sand completely from the corner.....only a 15" tank, just too tight.... get that temp under control bro! tank looks good...LEDs FTW! Link to comment
rb1685 Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 *UPDATE* So I decided to finally ditch the HUGE GSP colony. It was casting a huge light/flow shadow on the sandbed, and it just made the tank so much more crowded. Well, I didn't take into consideration that without that rock, the house of cards that was my rockscape did not hold, so a re-scape was in order. I feel that it really opens up the tank. I'm thinking about a frogspawn (have my eye on a purple Euphyllia cristata for the lower left corner below the return. I still have to relocate the duncan, but here's how the tank sits today: All of my SPS corals are still bleaching. At first, I wrote it off to the fact that I had some of them under PC lighting for so long, they were just taking a long time to bounce back. Then, I bought a few new frags (green slimer & pocillopora) that started bleaching within days. THEN, I got another beautiful frag of Pink Birdsnest from Maddevil, which now has almost no color - and it has only been three weeks! I'm uncertain as to whether it is my LEDs being too bright/dim, or if it is a water parameter. I had a lobo and a torch coral die within the last 6 weeks, so I have seen detectable amounts of Ammonia. I'm doing large water changes 2-3 times a week and it seems to be helping. Most of the corals are opening again, (especially the Duncan). Then there's this: I'm afraid that this is dinoflagellates. It started with the recent death of the lobo, and I can't seem to shake it. It is a brown hairy slimelike growth, which only seems to appear in one location on the sandbed. I've been vacuuming it up with my large water changes in hopes to keep it at bay, but I've read that this stuff is really hard to eradicate. I'm about to set up a small cheato fuge in the media rack, in hopes that this will pull some of the nutrients out. I've also considered running a skimmer a few hours a day, but I'd have to find a small HOB one, and I'm totally ignorant on what's out there in terms of skimmers. Good news is that with the RKL and my A/C set at 77 all day long, my temps have really stabilized. I haven't seen a temp fluctuate over 1 degree since the RKL came along. It usually sits at around 77.5 *F. I also recently aquired a RO/DI unit, so I'm not using that awful store-bought Kroger RO water anymore! With this, i have switched salts to Red Sea Coral Pro, and I'm liking it alot so far. It mixes better, and my corals seem to be pleased with the little added boost in minerals. Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 time to look into nitrates or phosphates my dude... i doubt its the LEDs at 50%.... i would bring down to 35-40% but definently grab some phosban and chaeto, hopefully u already run purigen and chemipure (and or elite) remember, my tank had nitrates from 10, then to 20, i added chaeto and im steady at under 5 now Link to comment
rb1685 Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 time to look into nitrates or phosphates my dude... i doubt its the LEDs at 50%.... i would bring down to 35-40% but definently grab some phosban and chaeto, hopefully u already run purigen and chemipure (and or elite) remember, my tank had nitrates from 10, then to 20, i added chaeto and im steady at under 5 now Nitrates and Phosphates both test at 0. Ammonia is testing at <.25 - it's a little bit higher than 0, but not quite at .25. I run chemipure elite and purigen, but I'm thinking more and more a mini fuge in the back will be beneficial. I'm going to order the JBJ nano-light for the fuge next week. Mine's an older BC14, so I had to scrape the paint off of the middle chamber. Link to comment
Maddevil1 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 THEN, I got another beautiful frag of Pink Birdsnest from Maddevil, which now has almost no color - and it has only been three weeks! Dang! The only thing I can think of is water parameters or the LEDs are too bright. But I never had luck with SPS and LEDs. I've covered my RB LEDs now as well and just running the True Violets. Make sure your testing for water parameters with quality test kits. Use Salifert or ELOS especially for Mg, Cal, dKH, & Phosphate. Use a refractometer for SG and a probe for pH. I went away from Chemipure Elite and use reef carbon and phosguard. I also went away from the purigen 100ml bag and just bought a bottle of it. Why? So I can change the carbon/phosguard every 2 weeks and Purigen every month. The chemipure and purigen say they last a long time...but I dont trust it.....and when they are used up, they will leach back into the water. Well....when you get things figured out, let me know.....birdsnest will be trimmed again. Oh, how are you acclimating the SPS? Link to comment
Deleted User 4 Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Like the rockscape! Good luck on recovering the corals. Link to comment
rb1685 Posted July 26, 2011 Author Share Posted July 26, 2011 Dang! The only thing I can think of is water parameters or the LEDs are too bright. But I never had luck with SPS and LEDs. I've covered my RB LEDs now as well and just running the True Violets. Make sure your testing for water parameters with quality test kits. Use Salifert or ELOS especially for Mg, Cal, dKH, & Phosphate. Use a refractometer for SG and a probe for pH. I went away from Chemipure Elite and use reef carbon and phosguard. I also went away from the purigen 100ml bag and just bought a bottle of it. Why? So I can change the carbon/phosguard every 2 weeks and Purigen every month. The chemipure and purigen say they last a long time...but I dont trust it.....and when they are used up, they will leach back into the water. Well....when you get things figured out, let me know.....birdsnest will be trimmed again. Oh, how are you acclimating the SPS? I'm using Salifert for Magnesium, Alk, and Calcium, but am still using API for everything else. I'm about to make a Marine Depot order, so perhaps I'll add some Salifert kits to it. I'm planning on getting the SL1 module for the RKL, so I'll be able to monitor pH that way. I'm also using a good refractometer to test salinity - but get this: Last week I did three large water changes. The third time I could NOT get the salinity right. It just seemed like I was adding WAY too much salt. It suddenly dawned on me to check the calibration of the prism in the refractometer. It was almost an entire point too high! After setting it right, I discovered my tank's salinity was about 1.120. I got it corrected and did a couple of water changes to fix the salinity. Moral of the story: check your refractometer from time to time with R/O water! Do you put your purigen in a nylon stocking? I'll have to read up on the Reefcarbon and Phosgaurd before I switch to anything else. For acclimation, I first float the bag/container for about 20-30 minutes, adding a little bit of tank water every few minutes to get a sort of "drip effect". I then dip the corals in a dip I bought at Fish Gallery, I can't remember what it's called but it's not CoralRx. It's some Iodine-based coral dip. It definitely kills hitchhikers and such, but I'm not sure what it does to the corals, if anything. I'd still like to take advantage of your PAR meter. I'll even pay you to come out, as I know it's a hell of a drive. I just feel that these LEDs are not set correctly. I love the way they look, but something's just not right. Link to comment
Maddevil1 Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 I'm using Salifert for Magnesium, Alk, and Calcium, but am still using API for everything else. I'm about to make a Marine Depot order, so perhaps I'll add some Salifert kits to it. I'm planning on getting the SL1 module for the RKL, so I'll be able to monitor pH that way. Sounds like you are using the right kits. I stopped using Salifert because every once in a while I would get a bad batch of tests. It happened with each kit too! So I now only use ELOS. So for Phosphate, Nitrate, Mg, and Calcium, I use ELOS. Currently I am still using the Tropic Marin Test kit for dKH but I am going to switch to a Lamotte dKH test kit soon - just for more accuracy. And a probe is the best way to measure pH, I have a pin point now, but I might just integrate everything into the reefkeeper. I'm also using a good refractometer to test salinity - but get this: Last week I did three large water changes. The third time I could NOT get the salinity right. It just seemed like I was adding WAY too much salt. It suddenly dawned on me to check the calibration of the prism in the refractometer. It was almost an entire point too high! After setting it right, I discovered my tank's salinity was about 1.120. I got it corrected and did a couple of water changes to fix the salinity. Moral of the story: check your refractometer from time to time with R/O water! Yea, I actually bought calibration fluid for my refractometer. But RO water is a good test too. Do you put your purigen in a nylon stocking? I'll have to read up on the Reefcarbon and Phosgaurd before I switch to anything else. I put the purigen in a nylon bag, basically half of what comes in a 100ml bag of purigen. After a month, I throw it away- but rinse the bag and reuse. Kents reefcarbon is pretty good. As for phosguard.....I dont think it matters too much what you use, but use something to take out extra silicates and phosphate. For acclimation, I first float the bag/container for about 20-30 minutes, adding a little bit of tank water every few minutes to get a sort of "drip effect". I then dip the corals in a dip I bought at Fish Gallery, I can't remember what it's called but it's not CoralRx. It's some Iodine-based coral dip. It definitely kills hitchhikers and such, but I'm not sure what it does to the corals, if anything. The way I acclimate stuff I get local is float for 15mins, the every 5 mins put in a cup of water for a total of 15 mins so three times.. Then dip in CoralRx and straight into tank. Stuff that you get in the mail, temp acclimate for 20mins, take out of bag and dip, then straight into tank. Iodine is a pretty harsh dip too. I'd still like to take advantage of your PAR meter. I'll even pay you to come out, as I know it's a hell of a drive. I just feel that these LEDs are not set correctly. I love the way they look, but something's just not right. The next time I will be available will be Aug 13th, maybe. Baby is getting close, so I dont know what last minute stuff I might have to do. If that works for you, lets plan on that date and as the time gets closer, I can let you know. Link to comment
rb1685 Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 The next time I will be available will be Aug 13th, maybe. Baby is getting close, so I dont know what last minute stuff I might have to do. If that works for you, lets plan on that date and as the time gets closer, I can let you know. Well a preemptive congratulations is in order for the baby! The 13th should be good, but if you can't, I totally understand. Link to comment
Maddevil1 Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Well a preemptive congratulations is in order for the baby! The 13th should be good, but if you can't, I totally understand. Ok, I'll let you know. Oh, and I broke my chiller when I was trying to clean it. I need to see if I can fix the leak. Link to comment
rb1685 Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 So I'm really unhappy with my tank right now. None of my SPS corals have any color, yet they continue to grow and have good polyp extension. I've tried many different color settings with the LEDs, but I can't seem to get it right. Everything, including the softies, seems to be washed out. I have the same lighting as several BC14 owners here who have remarkably better results than I - BKR's BC14 is a good example . This led me to believe that it was a water quality issue, but by running a cheato fuge, purigen, and chemipure, I would have thought the water would be in tip top shape. Everything tests negative, but perhaps I should try different tests. Maybe I need more live rock (?) The next issue would be flow. I only have a Hydor Pico Evo 1200 return pump and Koralia 425 powerhead - so perhaps an MP10 is in order. Besides the lack of coloration, I have been battling Dinoflagellates since about mid June. I think I'm on the brink of victory as I haven't seen any blooms in about a week. Adding the cheato fuge last month has definitely helped with this and the other pest algae in the tank. I've seen some green cyano pop up here and there, but it quickly disappears within a day or two. The biggest nuisance now is the complete overtaking of Blue Clove Polyps. They have completely choked out my colony of beautiful BamBam Zoas & ricordias, and are about to kill my AoG Palys. I've heard of people that cannot grow these things. I wish I had that problem! So all in all, I'm really considering starting the tank over. I have two extra tanks that would make a good holding for some of the stuff I wish to keep whilst the BC14 recycles. Since my tank never really cycled in the beginning, I think fresh live rock and sand will be a good start. I have bought bunch of good equipment since I started the tank, so I think I'll be more prepared if I decide to make the leap. Any opinions or comments on the reboot are greatly appreciated. Since this has been an unexpectedly wordy update - here's some pics Watermelon Zoas - their rock was attached to this unusual plaster-like stuff. It broke apart when I took a pried it with a butterknife. HUGE Yuma. Thing is probably 2.5" across during the day. FTS - blurry and washed out. The duncans are pissed off too for some reason. I need a decent camera... Link to comment
rb1685 Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 Uve been MIA Yeah, I've been really disappointed with the tank lately, so I haven't felt the need to post anything... Link to comment
iDream Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Take the time out and overhaul the tank if you want it to look nice. I know I was really unhappy with my biocube despite some nice pieces and a lighting upgrade, so I took a day and took out ALL my rock and redid the scape, put all the corals where I wanted them to be, and now I'm in love with my tank. Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Yeah, I've been really disappointed with the tank lately, so I haven't felt the need to post anything... Rescape time!!! Pffft you haven't seen my piece lately... You should! Link to comment
rb1685 Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 I don't think rescaping will do much good for the color of the SPS corals. I am thinking about adding some more live rock to fill in the scape a little bit though. The tank seems kinda empty right now. Link to comment
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