Mark's Nanobox Powered 40B -retired-

[markalot]

All day cleanup, and it still needs more. Ended up changing 75% of the water even though I refilled as much as possible with removed water so I could continue cleaning and sucking bubble algae out. By the time I was done only the blues were on.

 

 

This Nepthea is a tad green.

 

 

This is the old encrusted area of Forest Fire digitata. It has encrusted a lot but not grown up any, but the polyps have remained brilliant orange and there is some green to the base.

 

 

Dropped the temp in the tank from 78 to 74.5 with the new water. Oops. Nothing seemed to care that much except the green toadstool.

[vlangel]

I am finding corals don't mind the lower temps although they probably don't appreciate an abrupt change. My tanks now run 71-74. I chose a 3 degree drop for the chiller so it doesn't have to kick on as often if it drops it an extra degree. Nothing seems to mind though.

[markalot]

Sort of a FTS. My big thin stripe decided today was a good day to clean the sand so it's been cloudy all day as he works it all over. I turned on the skimmer to take advantage of him stirring up the muck and filled half the cup in just a few hours. Typically I leave the skimmer off unless I feel the need to export something.

 

 

This right side still needs work, but the palys have done well and my original blue zoas that melted down to one polyp years ago are back up to 4 now.

 

 

... and then jackass had to flip the plate for no good reason.

 

 

Looks like it was working on righting itself when I flipped it.

 

[markalot]

FTS from yesterday evening. Needs another water change and more cleaning, but some of the corals looked a bit stressed so I'm letting it ride for a few days. Skimmer is still on, and all pumps at max to blow everything around in there. Might be a good idea to take the surface skimmer box off for a while and let the HOB filter suck up as much muck as possible.

 

 

Oh, and one big Aptasia next to the leather has gone missing.

[got2envy]

Sort of a FTS. My big thin stripe decided today was a good day to clean the sand so it's been cloudy all day as he works it all over. I turned on the skimmer to take advantage of him stirring up the muck and filled half the cup in just a few hours. Typically I leave the skimmer off unless I feel the need to export something.

 

 

This right side still needs work, but the palys have done well and my original blue zoas that melted down to one polyp years ago are back up to 4 now.

 

 

... and then jackass had to flip the plate for no good reason.

 

 

Looks like it was working on righting itself when I flipped it.

 

Gah!! thank gawd you saw that cause those rics would have killed that plate in no time.

 

Looking great Mark! You need some macros in derrr

[markalot]

Gah!! thank gawd you saw that cause those rics would have killed that plate in no time.

 

Looking great Mark! You need some macros in derrr

 

Hmmm, I should move it then, or move the rics. I love and hate these thin stripes.

 

Thanks. I sort of have macros in here, just not the ones I want.

[markalot]

Pretty good weekend with this tank. It STILL needs more algae removal, but I made progress.

 

- The skimmer is now sucking air from outside.

 

- Installed the Apex 8 outlet module

 

- Installed a timed topoff with pump and container. Starting out with 1 teaspoon of Kalk in 2 gallons to see how it goes. I really really don't want to dose, but I'm not sure evaporation is high enough for me to meet Alk and Calcium needs with Kalk.

 

- Figured out all I needed to extend the dimmer circuit from the Apex controller was a headphone extension cord, which I just happened to have, so the BML lights are now on a dimmer.

 

- Changed to use my unused BML 36" fixtures, 20K and one of my custom ones, running at 50% max.

 

- Changed the MP10 outlet to be non GFI. It's also on a battery backup.

 

- Threw a bag of Purigen into the HOB filter.

 

I do have to order a PM1 so I can hook a temperature probe up to this tank. I don't plan to monitor PH, I just don't want to know. I do have a hand held digital PH meter and a ton of calibration packets if I feel the need to test.

 

I modified the scape a bit and moved some pieces from my 150 to here. Each piece had to endure inspection some scrubbing to make sure no nudis came with it. An ugly pink and green poci is mounted on top of the rock until i find something better. Maybe it will color up under more light?

 

A birdsnest is on the right hand rock. It first appeared to be another green bird, but stem growth is different and in the 150 polyps were blue and green. It's been on a frag plug for months so I figured I'd give it a chance and if it's just another green bird I'll take it back to the LFS.

 

I also moved a purple stylo frag over. I made 3 frags of the stylo and they've grown into decent size pieces but I'm just too lazy to take them to the LFS or try and sell them locally. The purple stylo is a great indicator of water quality AND it's seemingly unkillable since it's lived through 2 serious crashes in my old 40 gallon.

 

Mounted two of my montis, still trying to figure out where to put the rest.

 

 

Underneath the tank is so clean now, it was a mess of timers and wires.

[Cameron6796]

Looking really good compared to earlier photos good work on your part.

 

With the 159 what are your plans for both tanks,

[Arkayology]

You've been really busy! It is looking like it is paying off though!

[markalot]

Looking really good compared to earlier photos good work on your part.

 

With the 159 what are your plans for both tanks,

 

Plan for this tank is montipora, since I was forced, and maybe some other SPS, but no acropora due to the clown goby. I WAS hoping for a mostly softie low maintenance tank.

 

You've been really busy! It is looking like it is paying off though!

 

Yea, all my fault letting it go while I setup the 150. Thanks.

[markalot]

Elimination of the bubble algae has led to a hair algae outbreak that the two thin stripes can't keep up with, and they're trying hard. I've done 2 large water changes and then, after noticing a really bad smell from the HOB fuge, turned it off and drained the smelliest water I've ever smelled from a reef tank. It literally stunk up the entire house, so I was maybe days away from a hard crash.

 

Did I mention how bad it smelled? Sewer gas, wife yelling down the stairs about the bad stench. It's one of those smells that's so bad you kind of miss it when it's gone. One more sniff ... oh man that's bad.

 

I placed a circulation pump in the fuge section and put it back online. I also added some Purigen and a small sock full of carbon and Phosguard. Ironically everything is happy and healthy, so hopefully this latest cleaning will reverse the hair algae outbreak.

 

[vlangel]

Good thing you were working with the tank and caught the smelly issue. What was the cause, rotting macro or something?

[markalot]

Good thing you were working with the tank and caught the smelly issue. What was the cause, rotting macro or something?

 

Could have been rotting macro algae, but I suspect poor flow causes some dead or low oxygen pockets. The CPR HOB fuge design is awful, the pump is too small and the flow is too slow. I knew better but was putting off adding the circulation pump to the bottom. I have it running because I'm using the skimmer that comes with it, otherwise it would be tossed at this point.

[jedimasterben]

The smell was hydrogen sulfide. Did you do anything to the sand that was in it or? If not, I would take it outside, stir up the sand really really well, leave it for a bit, then drain all of the water in it and replace it with new water. The most important part of that is being outside

[markalot]

The smell was hydrogen sulfide. Did you do anything to the sand that was in it or? If not, I would take it outside, stir up the sand really really well, leave it for a bit, then drain all of the water in it and replace it with new water. The most important part of that is being outside

 

No sand in it, well maybe some bits of sand but no sandbed, I am not into sandbeds in fuges or sumps. Does that indicate just how damn bad the flow is in this piece of crap? It didn;t really smell like sewer gas, more like the combination of skimmate and sewer gas. Very odd smell, very strong.

[jedimasterben]

No sand in it, well maybe some bits of sand but no sandbed, I am not into sandbeds in fuges or sumps. Does that indicate just how damn bad the flow is in this piece of crap? It didn;t really smell like sewer gas, more like the combination of skimmate and sewer gas. Very odd smell, very strong.

No sand? Well. Honestly not sure where the smell would come from, then, as what you're describing is definitely H₂S. Water wants to be at equilibrium, so you'd think that your whole tank would have that smell. Very odd!

[vlangel]

Could have been rotting macro algae, but I suspect poor flow causes some dead or low oxygen pockets. The CPR HOB fuge design is awful, the pump is too small and the flow is too slow. I knew better but was putting off adding the circulation pump to the bottom. I have it running because I'm using the skimmer that comes with it, otherwise it would be tossed at this point.

I am guessing that is the only skimmer you have on that tank. Sounds like you are in for an upgrade, either a new skimmer or fuge/skimmer combo. I know how it is when you are trying to make do with what you have though.

[markalot]

Updated FTS. I'm using a fairly large bag of Phosguard in the HOB and I expected the corals to show some shock but so far the only evidence I did anything was browning of the hair algae. Lowered my frag rack to the bottom so the thin stripes can clean it off.

 

 

 

[hypostatic]

Oh wow I am loving this tank. Everything looks so happy and well fed! The macros must be hosting some really good micro fauna that everything's gobbling up.

[markalot]

Oh wow I am loving this tank. Everything looks so happy and well fed! The macros must be hosting some really good micro fauna that everything's gobbling up.

 

Thanks. Yea, it's pretty amazing what a dirty tank can grow. My daughter had some friends over the other day ... they wow at the 150 and then boom, oh this is a pretty tank ... and look at the cute little fishes ... and they point and look for a few minutes. I can't see if for stressing over all the algae.

[markalot]

Ever so slowly improving. Algae turning brown and hermits eating it when not under attack from the possessive Basslet. He's got Herman pinned down on that rock back there and he'll have to wait until lights out to move.

 

 

The birdsnest in back, up top, has either bleached badly or is some kind of pink bird. I'm waiting for it to sort itself out. Polyp extension is good so it doesn't appear to be stressed.

[markalot]

Still chugging along. The bubble algae has been significantly reduced but some brown hair algae or diatoms is growing over everything. The hermits eat it but they can't keep up. Doing twice weekly water changes and still using Phosguard.

 

It's hard to get a FTS now with the big T5 fixture over the 150 which sprays light everywhere.

 

The Montis I've mounted on the rocks are growing well so I may mount a few more favorites and toss the rest which can be easily replaced.

[markalot]

Ok, put a shield up to shade the T5 beast on my 150 and was able to get a slightly better FTS. Ihave to say this little tank looks quite good under the Maxspect Razor, but I can't wait to get the MH setup with the 14K bulb and see how that looks.

 

My birdsnest that was brown for months on the frag rack is still pink with green polyps. Did I really luck into a large branch pink, or is it still bleached? I'm running very low light in here at the moment so if bleached it should be recovering.

 

[markalot]

Still going. Everything is happy except for the red acan. It may not like the near 0 phosphates I'm keeping in here to try and tackle the algae problem. I have been running the Razor very dim and yet things seem to be growing well.

FTS





I guess this IS a pink bird. I thought it bleached out but it's staying a very consistent pink. I wonder if the higher phosphates in the 150 kept this brown? I've stripped the water in here of all measurable phosphates to try and tackle the algae problem.

This is all that's left of the spongodes. Doing well, encrusting slowly.

 

This monti, one of my favorites, really likes it in here. Looks like I'm going to have to pull the caulerpa again.

 

Purple stylo does look better under LED.

[Sk8n Reefer]

Pink Birdsnest looks pretty cool- your pictures are looking good. Are your Monti's safe now from the nudi's?