RollaJase's 30G Custom Cube - Tank Torn Down

[RollaJase]

Jase, would you mind elaborating or linking me to some articles, I'd like to learn more about this. Thank you.

'Old tank syndrome' is typically related to tank neglect, you could essentially call it laziness or poor tank husbandry. As a tank gets older and starts to mature the reefer starts enjoying looking at the tank more as opposed to keeping up with general maintenance. Water changes drop off, testing and general maintenance becomes less frequent, all while the corals are growing and drawing more elements from the water while waste starts to build up in higher levels. I admit, I am guilty of this myself, I seldom tested anything until my SPS started looking horrible. As the tank is maturing the corals draw more elements from the water until the consumption gets to a stage where standard water changes can't keep up. If your not paying attention the levels slowly drop over time, not causing immediate coral stress but over weeks/months the signs start to become evident.

 

As for the higher nutrients directly causing increased Alk/Cal consumption this I believe to only be theory or speculation. The theory is that as the nutrients in the water become higher the corals have to work harder to build their skeletons, therefore using increased levels of Alk and Cal (main elements anyway, the theory went on to state all element usage was increased). I read this in passing, whether it was in an actual article or speculation in the comments section of an article. I'll see if I can find some supporting evidence for you Kat.

 

In the mean time I did bookmark two articles on 'Old Tank Syndrome' that I found on Advanced Aquarist, the articles are fairly old (May and October 2006) but they are an interesting read nonetheless.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/5/aafeature2

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/10/aafeature

[gena]

Just ordered some 6mm acrylic rod on eBay, should be here early next week. I need to get some more epoxy and a few larger pieces of dry rock and I can start experimenting with a few new SPS tower scapes for the rear of the tank. I would like to try and incorporate the leather coral into this tower as I think it will be an interesting feature.

 

I am envisaging the left hand side of the tank to stay the same with the SPS/mushie rock to be pushed a little further back. This will allow me to add a few additional choice zoa pieces in and will open up the the front of the tank a little more for the fish. Since removing a large portion of the rear rock the fish seem to be much happier so I want to keep everything as open as possible, I may even try adding another juvenile clown to the mix. The rear center of the tank will be dominated with an SPS tower that will hopefully start thin at the bottom and will increase in size before plateauing and jutting out a bit from the rear of the tank. This will be the new center piece of the tank. The rock on the right side of the tank will be roughly halved and I will create a small island for torches, hammers and frogspawn corals with some room on the sand for my two elegance corals. In front of this LPS island will be a small rock for some chalice corals, I currently have two but would like a third. This will leave me some more room at the front of the tank to add a third fungia plate on the sand, hopefully without things looking too crowded.

 

Hopefully if it all works out it will look something like this:

 

I have a few larger pieces of rock left over at the rear of the tank that may make good base rock for the SPS tower. I have another piece that is covered in Caulerpa that I like the look of and would like to use elsewhere. The larger rock has some minor Xenia growth on it so I might cook it and start from scratch. The Caulerpa rock has great coraline growth so I will try to pick off as much Caulerpa as I can before using a brush to remove the rest before thoroughly rinsing it in fresh tank water.

Ohhhhh.....I like this plan .

[Felicia]

I like the new plan for the scape! I have to say that I'm partial to things being more open ever since I made my new scape. Your fish will love all the open swimming space! Mine sure do, and spend a lot less time hiding now! Great idea! I can't wait to see how it turns out

[RollaJase]

Ohhhhh.....I like this plan .

Thanks Gena, I hope I can make it work.

 

I like the new plan for the scape! I have to say that I'm partial to things being more open ever since I made my new scape. Your fish will love all the open swimming space! Mine sure do, and spend a lot less time hiding now! Great idea! I can't wait to see how it turns out

Thanks Felicia . I have become a big fan of the more open scapes lately, I think they suite nanos really well. I think when I rescaped this tank for the second time I tried to keep too much rock in the display, especially after removing the sump. My Thoughts must have been along the lines of 'rock is filtration so more the merrier' or something like that haha. I'm hoping that it will make the fish a little more active because at the moment they kinda just hand out front and centre and don't really do much (well, all fish besides the Blenny anyway).

[Felicia]

Thanks Felicia . I have become a big fan of the more open scapes lately, I think they suite nanos really well. I think when I rescaped this tank for the second time I tried to keep too much rock in the display, especially after removing the sump. My Thoughts must have been along the lines of 'rock is filtration so more the merrier' or something like that haha. I'm hoping that it will make the fish a little more active because at the moment they kinda just hand out front and centre and don't really do much (well, all fish besides the Blenny anyway).

You definitely need rock for filtration, but I think there's a certain point where you don't need quite that much! I'm with you on thinking the more open scapes seem to really suit nano reefs. It makes it look bigger. It does limit coral placement, but that's fine with me because it means less drain on my wallet haha! I know that with my new scape the fish seem way more active, so hopefully the same will happen for you. I think fish need places to hide if they're scared, but if you give them too much rockwork they just lurk in there. They need some open swimming space too

[RollaJase]

You definitely need rock for filtration, but I think there's a certain point where you don't need quite that much! I'm with you on thinking the more open scapes seem to really suit nano reefs. It makes it look bigger. It does limit coral placement, but that's fine with me because it means less drain on my wallet haha! I know that with my new scape the fish seem way more active, so hopefully the same will happen for you. I think fish need places to hide if they're scared, but if you give them too much rockwork they just lurk in there. They need some open swimming space too

Yes I am hoping the fish will become more active also, perhaps the new scenery will prompt them to explore a little more. I am going to try and make a start on this over the weekend, we will see how I go anyway. Can't exactly start pinning the rock together without the acrylic rod.

[RollaJase]

After my Alk spike up to 9.5dKH I skipped dosing for a day to see what would happen, the Alk dropped down to 8.4dKH and with dosing it has remained stable at around that level. Calcium needs to be dosed every couple of days but the consumption has decreased slightly and Magnesium consumption has risen slightly.

In other news as of July 1 I have been in my current job for 12 months and yesterday I had my performance review. This yielded a nice little pay rise to be so I can save more money for my trip overseas early next year. I have found myself a local importer of the Marine Color tripple pump doser (MCD-3-M). After looking into these units they seem to get a lot of praise and parts seems to be interchangeable with the Kamoer spares. I may have to treat myself as the pump itself is fairly cheap at $165AUD with another $50AUD or so for an acrylic triple compartment dosing reservoir.

[4x5]

Congrats on the raise, got to love those. Keen to hear your thoughts on the Marine Color doser.

[ninjamyst]

more $$$ for corals!

[RollaJase]

Congrats on the raise, got to love those. Keen to hear your thoughts on the Marine Color doser.

Thanks man, ended up getting a little more than I hoped for as well which was nice. The doser is definitely coming, wont be able to order it for a few weeks but should have one in my hot little hands by the end of July. I want to install the doser post sump install as I don't want to have to dial it in, install the sump then dial it in again. I'm happy to manual dose for the next few weeks anyway. Also planning on replacing my camera body to a slightly newer version so I can take sexier coral pics .

 

more $$$ for corals!

You know it! . Once I get everything stabilised I plan on splurging a bit on some show pieces. Some choice acro colonies, an aussie gold torch and a purple and green hammer are on the cards .

[RollaJase]

Went to the LFS on saturday to offload yet another batch of shrooms, came home with this guy:

Complete with crab:

They had originally had this piece in their nano tank and it browned out, they then put it in their frag system and it has been colouring up really well. It is a dark emerald green which fades off to lighter growth top. The polyps are a deep purple from what I can tell. The new growth around the encrusting base is a really bright green. Once it fully recovers it should be a very nice piece indeed. It was a straight swap for my shrooms so I am happy with the outcome.

 

I also realised that I had never gotten a good pic of the lone zoa head that came in as a freebie with another frag that I purchased so here we go.

The red is so intense, I love it. It has been attached to the rock for about 3 weeks now and now that it has taken it is popping out babies in every direction.

 

Another LFS I stopped by to get some rotifiers has let their maintenance lapse on their large coral system and most of their acros had browned out and their were some signs of red slime on the sand. However they had two beautiful chalice frags that I was so close to purchasing. They were asking something reasonable for them but they were starting to bleach along their leading edges and were quite pale. I'll give them a week, if they are no worse next weekend I'll try to save one of the pieces. They looked very similar to the below but with larger yellow mouths and a bit of green around the yellow:

http://i48.servimg.com/u/f48/17/18/26/79/dsc_0111.jpg

 

I witnessed some unusual tank behavior today. Out of my 3 cardinals two are quite placid, the other is the boss of the tank and will show aggression From time to time this cardinal may peck at the clown, the clown can hold its own but this cardinal is about twice its size. I witnessed the clown take a big peck today that it wasn't prepared for which sent it running to the other side of the tank. The other two cardinals stepped in and each took at shot at the larger dominant cardinal before swimming over and huddling with the clown. I had noticed that these two cardinals hung around with the clown and while the clown does explore it will always swim back to this pair of cardinals. I had never witnessed the root of this behavior first hand though.

 

More interesting clown behavior. My Blenny likes to pick pods off the glass, rocks, skimmer, pretty much everything. The clown has made a habit of following the blenny around the tank and when it picks a pod off a surface and moves on the clown will copy the action on the same surface, it really is quite funny to watch.

[RollaJase]

Made some serious headway on the sump/stand today. Thought I'd give you the grand tour of the stand seeing as I haven't posted any progress in months.

 

First up, I finished my cable management/fan module:

 

The stand:

The entire stand has been clad in a noise insulating matting, typically used in car audio upgrades. It is to help isolate vibration and will reduce audible noise when the door is shut.

 

Standard power boards and stuff, these connect back to my UPS for battery backup or just surge protection. The left power board is surge only and has lights, skimmer, ATO and heaters attached to it. The power board front and center is on battery backup and has all pumps attached to it. All cables are run through a 1RU 19" cable management module typically found in comms cabinets or server racks. Fans are standard 12V PC fans, fluid bearings for long life and low noise and will spin at around 1,500rpm for good airflow at a low noise level. Cable management isn't done yet, about 80% complete, will be finalized when the sump goes in.

 

Seeing as the stand is clad with foam I had to think of a way to fix cables in place. The easy solution was to get some 1" wide aluminum flat bar, cut so required length, drill a few holes, paint black and hey presto. Using some adhesive zip tie mounts allows me to hand whatever I want, notice how it is strong enough to hold up my AI Sol power pack in the above pic. I ran out of the cable tie mounts so ignore my MP10 power supply just dangling there.

 

This is the control center. Similar in design to the cable management bars, this is simply a square piece of painted aluminium that I have stuck velcro on to allow easy mounting of the MP10 controller, AI controller and a control box that I am making for lights and fans in the stand. The control box for the fans is pretty simple and is almost complete. 12v 2A power feeds in to it, splits and is fed out through 2 switched circuits to my fans and LED cabinet lights. The switch will allow me to turn each channel off as I need for maintenance etc. Last thing for me left to do is wire in the second switch and make up the leads to connect the controller to the fans and the lights. The LED lights will be hung in similar fashion to the cable management bars.

 

http://img819.imageshack.us/i/qu1m.jpg/'>

I may have also finished my sump (99% complete).

[Jstn]

Sick sump, nice work!

[Alex B]

Good progress!! Looks awesome

[RollaJase]

Sick sump, nice work!

Cheers, It is almost does, just a few bits and pieces to glue in an I need to make a lid for the ATO reservoir and I am all done. I still haven't decided how to mount the ATO float either.

 

Good progress!! Looks awesome

Thanks, I'm finally at the business end of this project. I have let it drag out for far too long.

[Felicia]

I love that new acro! Beautiful colors

 

Yay! Progress the stand and sump! I love how neat and organized you are making everything. That sump looks pretty awesome!

[RollaJase]

I love that new acro! Beautiful colors

 

Yay! Progress the stand and sump! I love how neat and organized you are making everything. That sump looks pretty awesome!

Thanks Felicia, it has coloured up a litle more since taking those pictures also.

I am so excited about getting the sump finished , almost there now. I still have a fiew bits and pieces that I am putting off ordering for it until I have to but if I can get it in and running then those extra pieces can come later. I am not looking forward to draining the tank so I can pull the stand forward a few inches to get the plumbing sorted out though.

[RollaJase]

Stability wise the tank has been going pretty well lately. The new SPS pieces havent shown any signs of change but the original pieces still look bad and some are declining. My pink milli probably wont make it, nor will the green monti cap. The Rainbow stylo has lost all colour besides green and is losing flesh daily .

 

Since the 9th of July levels have been stable at around:

Alk = 8.4dKH (spiked up to 8.7 once then levelled the next day)

Cal = 440-420ppm

Mag = 1220-1180ppm

 

I know the mag is a tad low and I don't think the current Cal/Mag buffer can keep up on a Mag depletion. Do you think this is why the SPS are still looking lousy?

[markalot]

Sorry to hear about the old SPS. Zombie corals in my experience. The damage was done and they die slowly which sometimes leads to us making changes that don't need to be made which causes even more harm. Attack of the zombies.

 

Sump and equipment organization look fantastic, I'm envious but I don't have the time or patience to make things look that good. My wife bought a nice closed door shelving unit that will fit next to the tank where I'm going to hide some of my power supplies, battery backups, and other crap I want hidden. It won't be that organized, just hidden!

[RollaJase]

Sorry to hear about the old SPS. Zombie corals in my experience. The damage was done and they die slowly which sometimes leads to us making changes that don't need to be made which causes even more harm. Attack of the zombies.

 

Sump and equipment organization look fantastic, I'm envious but I don't have the time or patience to make things look that good. My wife bought a nice closed door shelving unit that will fit next to the tank where I'm going to hide some of my power supplies, battery backups, and other crap I want hidden. It won't be that organized, just hidden!

Yeah I think you may be right, a shame because there were a few really nice pieces that I wanted to save, it would be a shame to toss them. I guess I'll just pull them out as they die off and hopefully a few pieces are still healthy enough to pull through.

 

I like having the equipment organised, I have less chance of pulling something into the sump when I stick my hand in the cabinet . I have learned from previous mistakes and while this has taken a lot longer to do I think it will be worth it in the end. If you can hide your gear behind closed doors then who cares what it looks like . I highly recommend the zip tie mounts and taking the time to properly mount the power boards though. To save time I photocopy the back of the powerboards and use that as a template for drilling mounting holes .

 

 

Well, I just ordered 3x 1L pharmaceutical storage bottles online, got them for about $4 each. Combine that with some rigid (acrylic) airline tubing I just ordered and hey presto, instant dosing containers. I just need to get some pass through fittings for the lids and they will be all sorted.

 

I also just ordered some more liquid coral foods, Seachem Alk and Mag powders, 2kg calcium chloride (all I could find), some flexible tubing for the sump and a few other bits and pieces. I will be ordering the doser in the next few weeks, I have settled on the Marine Color MC-03-M triple pump unit.

[RollaJase]

Alk dropped .5dKH over the last 2 days. I noticed the ATO hadn't been topping off as much lately, the house has been colder so I guess there is a tad less evap. Welp I'll be eating ramen next week cos I just ordered my doser, sick of these swings.

 

Also came home to my new green acro head first in my torch coral. About 4 of the tips have burnt off and it is a bit pissed but it should be ok. Stupid bulldozer snails knocking things off the frag rack . My rainbow stylo is all but gone as well now, my fluro green acro is pretty much had it and so is the pink poci and the monti cap. New acro pieces are doing well though.

[RollaJase]

Water change today so I decided to test my salt mix for Alk, Cal and Mag prior to adding it to the tank out of curiosity. It measured in at the following.

Salt = Red Sea Coral Pro

Temp = 25c

Salinity = 1.026

Alk = 11.8dKH

Cal = 400ppm

Mag = 1300ppm

 

So I think when I started going to fortnightly water changes I pretty much killed the tank. Levels would deplete over two weeks then shoot up again with the water change. I'll test the tank tonight at my usual testing time to see where things are at. I'm guessing the Alk will be around 10dKH. Should I try to match my parameters to the salt mix?

 

Looking at the levels RedSea designate:

http://www.redseafish.com/red-sea-salts/coral-pro-salt/

My mixed levels are pretty much normal, towards the higher end of their 'non-coral inverts' recommendation. My refractometer must be out by 0.001 as it reads 1.026 and my mixed levels are consistent with a 1.025 salt mix.

[RollaJase]

First batch of goodies arrived at work today:

-3m 3/4" Flex Tubing

-300G Seachem Reef Advantage Magnesium

-600G Seachem Reef Buffer (Ordered Reef Builder )

-2kg Calcium Chloride

-Microbe Lift Phyto-Plus A

-Microbe Lift Phyto-Plus B

-Ocean Wonders Purple Reef Epoxy

-4 Tube Dosing Line Sump Mount

 

The doser shipped yesterday so I should have it by the end of the week .

[markalot]

Damn, throw that buffer crap out.

 

Not sure on the salt mix, I'm struggling myself since I can only buy salt in smaller bags or the big boxes with smaller bags. Seachem Reef Salt is in the house and will be used next time I mix up a garbage can of water.

[RollaJase]

Damn, throw that buffer crap out.

 

Not sure on the salt mix, I'm struggling myself since I can only buy salt in smaller bags or the big boxes with smaller bags. Seachem Reef Salt is in the house and will be used next time I mix up a garbage can of water.

I have asked the online shop I ordered through if they will swap it as it was their stuff up. But really, for the $17 it cost its not worth the $10 or so to ship it back. The only salt I have ever used was Red Sea Pro as I heard great things about it, never really seen the blue bucket Red Sea salt in stores before and I know Zeovit users rave over that. I may try the Seachem salt when my next bucket is up. I can get the Dupla salt as well as H2Ocean Pro so I might do a bit more research when my bucket gets bit lower (I'm about 4 water changes into a new big bucket).