Biocube 29 w/LEDs: A learning experience.

[Rollermonkey]

Oh, it's attached tightly. I set it on a 1.5" frag disc, with the byssal opening directly on the disc. It fell over once or twice, so I pushed a little sand onto the sides of the disc to help keep it propped up. When I grabbed the nerite, the clam, the disc and the sand all came up, too. The disc was attached snugly to the clam, it didn't even wiggle. I was just worried about lifting the disc and sand by the clam, and the tug on the byssal gland that would cause.

[DAS212]

I noticed on page 13 that the clam was in a glass container with no top, why is that? ty

[Rollermonkey]

Keeps the hermits away?

 

Actually, it's an acrylic ring from inTank. I think the clam is supposed to bridge the ring, and I got a bigger ring and a smaller clam for each other.

[Rollermonkey]

I have to say, I never expected my calcium to creep upwards since I added a clam...

[Rollermonkey]

On Saturday, I had just walked past the tank when I noticed that 'Gus' my lettuce slug was floating about. Just as I reached for my iPad, it got sucked through the MP10. Before I could log into my Apex, it went through again. After I turned it off, I checked out the slug, and it looked OK. I got it to stick to a rock far from the powerhead and gave it 30 minutes before turning the MP10 back on.

 

Last night, I was doing a WC, and the same slug was wandering around when I saw it touch one of my maximinis with one of it's optical tentacles. I was shocked when the slug all but DASHED 3-4 inches away.

 

Poor thing, having a bad week, that's for sure.

[metrokat]

Yup, my slug did the MP10 ride twice too. Then I added a sponge guard on the MP10. Funny thing about that is that it works as a filter sponge, so the water got cleaner.

 

Clams do need calcium but you have a little clam and it would not be using up noticeable levels in calcium. With my heavy coralline and SPS, my calcium take a dip but not because I have a bitty little clam.

[Rollermonkey]

When I put the slug in, I had put the MP10 cover on, but within 3 days it was such a sludge factory of algae and slime, it was actually impeding the flow!

 

I'd like to pretend that Gus is smart enough not to go current surfing again.

[Rollermonkey]

Ok, I may be losing the battle with the bryopsis. I'm going to ramp down the Mg through water changes, then dose it back to 1700 all at once. No more manual removal, I'm just spreading spores. If this doesn't work, I'm going to have to start cycling new LR.

 

$#!+.

 

I'm getting 0.25ppm when I test phosphate, despite using RODI water, with Xenias, mangroves and a pretty hefty algae outbreak. I added phosban today, and I'm going to test the water in my ATO reservoir and WC buckets to see if it's leaching in from the buckets. Otherwise, it has to be the LR.

[fskywalker]

Hi, nice discussion. Do you see any bennefit in putting a Biocube UV sterilizer (Either the Oceanic 5 watt version or any other unit from other vendors) on your BC? I bought one when started my BC 29 gallon aquarium but it stopped working shortly afterwords and am trying to determine if it makes sense to buy a replacement or not. I don't have corals yet and do have a 1/10 hp Artica chiller.

 

Thanks,

 

Francisco

[Rollermonkey]

If you're plumbing over the side for a chiller, you could put the sterilizer on that line instead of the 'normal' placement in chamber 3.

 

I had one too, but when I upgraded the return pump, it wouldn't stay in-line any more. On a few occasions, the pump started blowing water over the side of the tank. I took it out, and haven't had a problem since.

 

Aside from the bryopsis that is choking my whole tank. I'm going to try one last thing before I give up and start working on a way to transfer the fish to another tank.

 

It is really weird to see the xenia virtually crawling away from the frag plug in slow motion...

[Blubbernaut]

_{Lucky! You got coral on your live rock! Well then again, I got a free urchin, a blenny, a wee little shrimp.....}

[Harrisonbored]

I'm in a deathmatch with Bryopsis too. Have you researched Prodibio? That's where I'm headed next. The Kent Tech M at over 1800 for a month has killed 90%, but the last 10 is regaining color and becoming a mutant unkillable strain.

[Rollermonkey]

I see nothing on the Prodibio website about algae reduction...

[Rollermonkey]

OK, I seriously have the slowest tank ever.

 

Nearly 9 months in, and the first Asterina Starfish just showed up, an itty-bitty one barely 1/4" overall.

 

Other than that, not much going on aside from the bryopsis taking over the whole tank. It slowed down once I stopped trying to do manual removal. Sigh. I'm hoping I can keep the tank going long enough to cycle a new tank after we move in March, and transfer the fish. I figure all of the coral is a loss, as are the CUC. The shrimps should be OK to move, but the lettuce slug is so fat and happy...

[Rollermonkey]

So, while checking out some of my Zoas that went for a walk (moved about 12" from where they had been) I spotted what appeared to be an aiptasia on an empty shell. I pulled it out, put a little tank water in a glass with the shell and waited. It extended again, so I poked it. Quick retraction, so yup. Not going back in the tank.

 

Mother#u(|<.

 

6 months with no hitchhikers, then bryopsis six weeks ago, now asterinas and aiptasia on the same day.

[Rollermonkey]

Added a Turbo, an emerald crab and a tuxedo urchin today. The lettuce slug needs help eating all the vegetation.

 

Hopefully I don't end up regretting any of the three,

[Rollermonkey]

I watched the emerald crab clean all the bryopsis from a frag plug before it disappeared. This morning, I woke to see the urchin eating algae from the clam's shell. It made a nice large bare patch, then moved off to the sand bed. The turbo went straight to the bare patch that the fuzzy chiton maintains.

[Rollermonkey]

So, at least my corals are still OK, despite the algae. I've had a couple more duncan heads, two more trumpets and even an itty bitty baby mushroom in the past month.

[1reefluvr2]

Have you used distilled water for your Wc?

[metrokat]

Hey monkey, where have you been? Any purple in the tank?

[Esage]

So, at least my corals are still OK, despite the algae. I've had a couple more duncan heads, two more trumpets and even an itty bitty baby mushroom in the past month.

Curious if you remember what percent you were running your blues and whites at with JBJ 54w LED. I'm also curious why you wanted to replace the JBJ with a Kessil A150W? The JBJ is a higher wattage LED fixture, so you would actually be removing light by replacing it with the Kessil.

[Rollermonkey]

Hey monkey, where have you been? Any purple in the tank?

 

Last quarter of college was kind of rough. Honestly, the purple isn't taking off, but then...

 

Current status:

 

The algae box is still running, but terminal. Manual removal of bryopsis is still occurring at each water change, but some of the zoas have been overwhelmed and removed. It's an absolute forest in there.

 

Last week, we closed on a house, and we've been busy moving everything from the apartment. It's an upgrade from a 2BR apartment to a 3BR house.

 

Today, I made arrangements for help moving the tank on Friday.

 

Finally, also today, I ordered a custom tank from a local store, Oceans By Design: 36"w X 24"d X 20"h, corner overflow, and drilled, but with the holes blocked. Not sure if I'm going to go peninsula or 'normal', but the starting configuration will be an 'underpowered' AIO. I'll start cycling it in about 2 months, after I have a stand and then I'll transfer fauna only from the cube as soon as that's possible. A couple months after that, I'll get a sump, and start filling that out with components before dropping pipework in place. I cannot imagine too many coral will be able to make the transfer. I may run FOWLR for a while, although I think the monti cap and the duncans are probably going to be OK. I don't want to admit it, but the clam is going to be a goner because I can't get the algae out from between the scutes, so it quickly grows back and obscures the light.

 

 

[Rollermonkey]

 

[eitallent]

Sounds like a lot of work. It certainly is hard to maintain a good GPA and live a normal life.

Sorry about the GHA problem; it is time consuming and frustrating to stay on top of it.

 

Good luck with your GHA battle, the move and school!!

[Rollermonkey]

Gah.

 

I finally had all the parts to hard pipe my RODI into the new house, and had test fired it up, when I noticed a leak between the cutoff valve and the following union. I turned the water back off, and gave it a couple quarter turns with the wrenches, and...SNAP.

 

Ten minutes before Lowes closes for the night.