LarryMoeCurly's 20g Long

[icy.bing]

what are you running in ur HOB filter? =D if its not too troublesome, could you post a pic of the inside??

 

thanks!

[LarryMoeCurly]

I am using an aquaclear 70. I use two layers of this filter floss on the bottom, and a bag of this carbon on the top. (Both of those are available elsewhere, those are just the links I happened to find.) I may switch to something with GFO in it, but I found the carbon bags at Petsmart and decided to give them a try since they were premade for the AC70.

 

You will find the their are many commonly used combinations of filter media: Chemipure, Chemipure Elite, Purigen, etc. Most of the filter medias available are carbon, granular ferric oxide (GFO, this is mainly to reduce phosphate), or a combination of the two.

 

I can't easily get a picture of it.

[LarryMoeCurly]

The goby finally ate some mysis. He is so skittish that i had to peek around the corner to watch him eat it. He only got a little since most of it floated away before he came out to get it, so I tried to give him some flake as well. Apparently I was a little overzealous and scared the heck out of her when I lowered the baster again to give her the flake. She nearly jumped out of the tank and is sill very worked up. She is so disoriented that she is just sitting in the open. Hopefully she'll calm down. I may have done more harm than good.

[icy.bing]

so you didn't mod the filter to be a fuge?

[LarryMoeCurly]

I did not. Perhaps someday; right now it's not on my to-do list.

[FishDooD65]

maybe those lights at full intensity are not helping your new coral additions prosper. here's a little trick that might work for you. you can use christmas light dimmers to dim your lights slightly to help acclimate your corals and keep the intensity down. if they don't work, you can always return and get your money back but that's what i used for the LED fixtures i had. anyways, too much light can be a bad thing as well as too little light, just my opinion.

[LarryMoeCurly]

Thanks for your input.

 

I assume you are referring to something like this; unfortunately, I do not think the bulbs I have are dimmable. They are an older style par38 bulb. I am currently considering upgrading to "full spectrum" dimmable bulbs or fixture.

 

Light has a central role in coral prosperity, as you say. I am new to SPS, and I know they usually like a lot of light, so I was hesitant to put on the bottom in the sand. I know things need to be light-acclimated, but I guess I did not realize that even SPS could be exposed to too much light. I also may have underestimated the output of my lights.

 

The acro did show signs of life today; I could just barely see some polyps, but they certainly weren't "extended" to any great degree.

 

Also, the goby is acting a little strange, I am hoping that it's just because she's in a new environment. She is annoyingly skittish; I basically have to sneak around the tank so she isn't startled.

 

If anyone has any suggestions on what light I should get, that would be great. I am looking for full spectrum, I guess the two front-runners are ledtric's par38's or reefbreeders value fixture.

[FishDooD65]

I have heard good things about the evergrow d120 fixtures. They also sell less than $200 and are full spectrum

[th64]

Good to see your keeping your tank on check again lol ... was that acro always that white since you bought it from the store? If so, they sold you a dying acro it looks almost completely bleached

[LarryMoeCurly]

Yeah, it looks similar to the reefbreeders fixture. I'm still undecided. I want the compactness and "sleekness" of a fixture, but it's also nice to have the modularity of par38s.

 

 

Good to see your keeping your tank on check again lol ... was that acro always that white since you bought it from the store? If so, they sold you a dying acro it looks almost completely bleached

 

 

 

The picture makes it look whiter than it is; it actually has some light blue in it. I told the guy to reccomend a good SPS for a beginner, he said acros were good (which I already knew) and he said he liked the blue ones. I actually didn't even look at it closely at the store, rookie mistake. I hope that it is just naturally light colored and it's not on the verge of death.

[FishDooD65]

I believe they are the same fixture. Reef breeders probably get them cheaper and puts their name on them. I have seen the evergrows sell for $165 shipped on ebay and aliexpress. There are many ways to go, its up to you.

[LarryMoeCurly]

Thanks for your input. Those fixtures do look very similar.

 

I just realized that the full spectrum bulbs from ledtric are not dimmable, so I guess that's no longer an option.

 

The reefbreeders fixture is only 16 inches long though, I question whether that would be enough coverage for a 20g long (30 inches). However, they say it is will cover 36 inches, and they do offer 120 degree optics. I need to do more research.

[LarryMoeCurly]

Test results for tonight:

 

SG: 1.024

pH: 7.8

Ca: 380

Alk: 6.4

Mag: 1400

 

There are a few odd things here. The magnesium is higher than it was when I last tested 3 days ago; that is test/user error I guess. Calcium barely dropped at all. Alkalinity is my biggest issue. It droped from 8.4 to 6.4 in 3 days. I know alkalinity generally drops faster than calcium, but it seems like they are falling disproportionately.

 

I do not think I have enough stuff in the tank to utilize that much alkalinity. I know that SPS do not like big parameter swings, so I am a little worried. I want to avoid dosing if at all possible. If I did dose, it would have to be weekly since I am at school. My parents would not be able to dose the tank everyday. I cannot see any precipitate, so I have to assume that the tank is simply consuming all of it.

[LarryMoeCurly]

Upons further research, I found that my results (alkalinity and calcium) may make sense. This artcicle states the following:

 

Calcium carbonate formation consumes its two components in an exact 1:1 ratio. In the units used by aquarists, this ratio corresponds to one meq/L (2.8 dKH; 50 ppm CaCO3 equivalents) for every 20 ppm of calcium.

 

SO basically for every 20ppm drop in calcium, alkalinity should drop about 3 dKH. Accounting for error, this basically matches my results. I still doubt that my tank can use that much in 3 days though. I suspect precipitation, but I can't find any.

 

I guess I have to seriously consider dosing.

[markalot]

Do you have a lot of coraline algae or any macros that consume calcium?

[LarryMoeCurly]

I don't have any macros (I didn't realize that macro algae consumed calcium). The rocks do have a lot of coraline on them, but it's not like it's growing rampant on the glass, filter, etc.

 

I just dosed some baking soda using the BRS calculator. I actually mixed more than I needed because I forgot to change the units from mEq/L to dKH. I added a little less then half a teaspoon I think. That should raise it about 1 dKH. I test in a little while to see how it went.

[LarryMoeCurly]

The baking soda raised the alkalinity to about 7.5 dKH. As expected, it did not have a significant affect on pH.

 

I will add the remainder of the solution tomorrow, with a target of around 9 dKH.

[markalot]

Some macro algae uses calcium, some does not.

 

If you only raise Alk and not calcium you'll get out of balance and most likely start precipitating, so keep that in mind. Make sure to keep the two in balance along with Mag being slightly elevated as well.

[LarryMoeCurly]

Unfortunately I don't have any dosing solutions to supplement calcium at this time. I just happened to be at walmart and got baking soda. The alkalinity was so low that I figured that it warranted action. If I raise the alkalinity to 9 or so over the nex day or two, and then it is depleted down to 6.5 or so over the next few days (assuming I don't do a water change this weekend), the calcium should only drop by about 20-30ppm. This would put calcium at perhaps 350.

 

The main issue I have with dosing, as I've said before, is that I am away at school for 1-2 weeks at a time. I could probably get my parents to dose on the weekend, if I were to use a weekly dosing schedule, and I could dose on the weekends that I am home. However, I don't think it would be possible to do daily dosing. I do not want the expense of dosing pumps, etc.

 

Is there any dosing solution(s) that would work for a weekly regimen? I know some have a significant affect on pH and can therefore not be dosed in large quantities. I realize that daily dosing is preferred in order to maintain stability, but it is simply not an option. I have a feeling that weekly dosing would cause such wide swings that it would perhaps be more of a detriment than a benefit.

[FishDooD65]

I use B-Ionic twice a week. I should dose daily but i do not have a lot of time as well. I usually dose Saturday nights and wednesdays, about 7.5ml of each solution to my 29 gallon cube. Well since i live in Miami as well, natural seawater is easily accesable which contains most chemicals needed at the proper levels.

[BattleAthletics]

I did not. Perhaps someday; right now it's not on my to-do list.

I also just bought my AC70, I plan to buy the InTank media basket though and not go DIY....

[LarryMoeCurly]

I considered that as well, but the thought of a refugium just doesn't appeal to me anymore. I would have to get a light, chaeto, etc., then keep the chaeto in check. I have enough clutter in my tank already. It probably isn't as bad/complicated as I'm making it sound, but it's just not something I want to do I guess.

[BattleAthletics]

Thats because you have a 20 right!?

 

Maybe I should just leave my stuff alone.

[LarryMoeCurly]

Thats because you have a 20 right!?

Are you talking about the clutter issue?

 

I think most people that run AC70s use them as refugiums. There was a huge thread awhile ago debating whether or not they were beneficial. Chemical and mechanical filtration should suffice, in my case.

[BattleAthletics]

Yeah I have a ten and its pretty cluttered already. But as far as filtration I think its way better than my old penguin 350.

Are you talking about the clutter issue?

 

I think most people that run AC70s use them as refugiums. There was a huge thread awhile ago debating whether or not they were beneficial. Chemical and mechanical filtration should suffice, in my case.