Polarcollision's Nuvo 24: March FTS

[Polarcollision]

22 hours ago, luckie1966 said:

I also recently got a Apex and orp probe also started very low then gradually rose to 475 which is where it's at now. I also use Ozone generator and Just curious what your levels run at now? I get ph swings but with in 1  point. So you think dosing causing swings or corals using up minerals in water?

 

From what I’ve read the ORP probe takes a while to break in. I’d believe the 475, with caution since the probes are fritzy. I don’t use ozone But it ranges 423-325. Usually the inverse rise and fall of pH. PH swings are mostly photosynthesis to respiration where free CO2 increases at night. It’s also less than 1 point so nothing to worry about. What I don’t like is that pH drops below 7.75 at night (if I’m trusting the pH probe). So I thought I’d dose boron to bring it back up to NSW levels, which is supposed to help stabilize pH.I don’t do water changes and have to add in minerals that get used up over time. With the recent very poor air quality (seattle’s Making news) pH tanked. See how the high pH is lower than the typical low? And the .2ish swing up on the first smoke day? That’s the boron dose. Air was cleaner this weekend and pH rose higher than before dosing boron, never dropping below 7.75. I’ve always dosed all my alk and Ca throughout the night during the low part of the pH swing to help balance it out.

 

[Polarcollision]

bookmarking for future reference. Push button feed mode at 9:06

 

 

[Polarcollision]

Next steps in setting up the Apex: Jebao wavemakers

 

Because my Nuvo 24 model is famously prone to cracking, I had to choose a wavemaker that does not transfer vibrations directly through the glass walls. Vortech's are sexy and feature-rich, but they are unfortunately a known cause of failures on this tank. I chose two Jebao PP4 wavemakers which have both a yoke attachment and a vibration cushion between the propeller and the magnetic mount to reduce vibration. Luckily, they also make a controller that is compatible with the Apex.

 

 

I also stumbled across a really helpful youtube channel called FishOfHex with detailed instructions on creating profiles for the pumps.

 

DuskDawn2

Pump, initial off: 0, On time: 3, off time: 3 min intensity: 30, max intensity: 50

 

Ramp-Up

Ramp, ramp time: 10, start intensity: 30, end intensity: 50

 

Ramp-Down

Ramp, ramp time: 10, start intensity: 50, end intensity: 30

 

Night

Pump, initial off: 0, On time: 3, off time: 3 min intensity: 30, max intensity: 30

[specore]

On 8/31/2018 at 2:47 PM, Polarcollision said:

bookmarking for future reference. Push button feed mode at 9:06

 

 

Thanks for sharing this.  I've seen it before, but for some reason never done it.  I don't mind activating the feed from the display module or the Fusion dashboard; however, having a couple of buttons already labeled would be very helpful for those occasions when I am away and someone else is feeding he tank for me.  

[MortalWombat]

Love the tank! A couple questions:

 

Are you doing ICP testing to monitor the trace elements?

 

I read you are using a media reactor with filter floss/ AC/ GFO, is this the only means of nutrient export?

 

I've been thinking about using acropower in my 60 gallon, it seems like a lot of people swear by it.

[Polarcollision]

7 hours ago, specore said:

Thanks for sharing this.  I've seen it before, but for some reason never done it.  I don't mind activating the feed from the display module or the Fusion dashboard; however, having a couple of buttons already labeled would be very helpful for those occasions when I am away and someone else is feeding he tank for me.  

OMG, the one thing Reefkeeper controller had over the Apex is a quick maual way to feed the fish. I'm always having to hunt down my phone when the clown starts begging. Then last vacation I had to arrange for the pet-sitting service to call me so I could tap the button on my phone--which means always making sure we're near wifi on vacation. Ummmm, no.

 

I thought I might use an old iPhone for the home display, but then I didn't see any way to only allow access to feed mode - she's great but not 100% confident with the reef.  PLUS I'd have to find yet another outlet to keep it powered.

 

So a switch to activate feed mode is ideal. So glad others have paved the way with programming, etc.

 

5 hours ago, MortalWombat said:

Love the tank! A couple questions:

 

Are you doing ICP testing to monitor the trace elements?

 

I read you are using a media reactor with filter floss/ AC/ GFO, is this the only means of nutrient export?

 

I've been thinking about using acropower in my 60 gallon, it seems like a lot of people swear by it.

I did the triton test on a whim. I've always been super curious about what's actually IN my water and how it compares to NSW. It turned out to be a great tool-- so I think I'll try to send off for one 3-4 times a year. If I were a water change person, there would be almost no need, but I have'nt changed any water in longer than my memory serves so it's nice to have the confirmation that everything is still in balance, or feedback on what needs to be corrected. About to send off a second ICP to see how switching over to red sea trace plus acropower has affected the water balance.

 

I'm currently only running passive carbon and passive GFO and floss and a skimmer. There's a possibility of adding a GFO reactor in the future, but I'd like to see if passive flow can lower phosphates enough.

 

100% love acropower. Give it a shot and see what you think!

 

I do also think that the red sea trace is part of the sudden turn-around on my reef--I should break out the big girl DSLR and show it off this week--though unless you have confirmed deficiencies via ICP like I did, I wouldn't bother. Water changes keep up with trace elements if they're already present in your salt brand.

[MortalWombat]

On 9/2/2018 at 4:17 PM, Polarcollision said:

I do also think that the red sea trace is part of the sudden turn-around on my reef--I should break out the big girl DSLR and show it off this week--though unless you have confirmed deficiencies via ICP like I did, I wouldn't bother. Water changes keep up with trace elements if they're already present in your salt brand.

I've been using Triton core7 on my 60 gallon for about 5 months now. The major parameters are super stable, but I haven't sent in an ICP yet. Thats awesome you're getting results from 2 part + Red sea trace dosing. Can't wait to see the new shots!

[Polarcollision]

It's been too long since I broke out the DSLR for reef photos. But today is your lucky day! Enjoy! Reef is coming up on it's 5 year birthday at the end of October/beginning of November. Wow--time flies.

 

[Pjanssen]

Gorgeous!

[specore]

What is this here?

[Polarcollision]

11 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

Gorgeous!

Thank you! 🙂

11 hours ago, specore said:

What is this here?

Ah, yes. That is a blue german digi that is starting to color up nicely. It has intense cobalt blue polyps on a brown base when fully colored. I actually have two frags of it and could part with that one. Interested?

[specore]

4 hours ago, Polarcollision said:

Thank you! 🙂

Ah, yes. That is a blue german digi that is starting to color up nicely. It has intense cobalt blue polyps on a brown base when fully colored. I actually have two frags of it and could part with that one. Interested?

Ummm...yes!

[vlangel]

Wow, those colors!  This tank is always beautiful and has stood the test of time.

[Zuma]

This is such a great tank, amazing combo of colors and awesome to see its still doing great at 5 years!

[Reeferadicto13]

Beautiful tank! How’s the jebao pump working out for you  ?

[mitten_reef]

All those encrusters and spreaders LPS. 😍

 

if the SAME tank can go for second round of TOTM due to its longevity, this one would be the front runner.

I guess @Christopher Marks had already set the precedence with @Nano sapiens‘s tank. So there’s a chance for second round totm!

[Nano sapiens]

Congrats on hitting the 5 year mark.  Looking good!

[samnaz]

Happy 5 years. Tank is looking better than ever, thanks for sharing the beauty with us. 😍

[Polarcollision]

On 9/21/2018 at 6:40 PM, vlangel said:

Wow, those colors!  This tank is always beautiful and has stood the test of time.

Thank you! I feel like 5 years is the point when a lot of tanks crash hard so I'm holding my breath to get through the next year. 🙂 Kind of. Tank is doing really well. I had salinity creep up higher and higher over the last few months which caused a few corals to stop growing, but other than that, tank is chugging along.

 

On 9/24/2018 at 5:01 PM, Zuma said:

This is such a great tank, amazing combo of colors and awesome to see its still doing great at 5 years!

Here's to another 5!

 

On 9/24/2018 at 5:50 PM, Reeferadicto13 said:

Beautiful tank! How’s the jebao pump working out for you  ?

Jebao pumps are great. They do need regular maintenance and can freeze up with a thick biofilm, but that's hardly their fault. I'll keep buying them because they're cheap and leaves more cash for corals and fish!

 

On 9/24/2018 at 6:08 PM, micoastreefing said:

All those encrusters and spreaders LPS. 😍

 

if the SAME tank can go for second round of TOTM due to its longevity, this one would be the front runner.

I guess @Christopher Marks had already set the precedence with @Nano sapiens‘s tank. So there’s a chance for second round totm!

 

Awww, thank you! If that happened, it would be my 3rd time winning TOTM. Probably time to let other beautiful tanks shine in the spotlight. 🙂

 

On 9/24/2018 at 7:54 PM, Nano sapiens said:

Congrats on hitting the 5 year mark.  Looking good!

Thank you! 5 years sure flew by.

 

On 12/10/2018 at 1:33 PM, samnaz said:

Happy 5 years. Tank is looking better than ever, thanks for sharing the beauty with us. 😍

Thank you! I've been painting up a storm lately but it might be time to start thinking about another FTS.

 

Until then, please enjoy this video of a Caribbean sea fan and gorgoinan reef off of Marathon Key, FL. No my video, but it's absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Polarcollision]

Hello everyone, I'm popping back in for a reef update and also to share what I've been up to while I'm away. Hope everyone's tanks are also doing well.

 

All the coral are still looking good and growing. I believe it's because of the early heads up that the Apex gives me when the dosing containers are going to run out so there are no more major alkalinity swings and no recent SPS emergencies. I also get regular feedback on pH and salinity trends which is a nice heads up for when things are on the verge of going south. I did feel some guilt about no longer supporting a local business (DigitalAquatics Reefkeeper) but they were unable to catch up to the traction the Apex had over them.

 

In the great How Long Can I Go Without A Water Change experiment, I'm pleased to report that my last water change was mid-November 2017, so 14 months now without any water changes beyond correcting salinity. All major ion parameters are still within range via RHF's method of dosing and I still only futz with water chemistry or testing once a month. Very hands off so that the reef can be enjoyed, healthy, and leave me time for other interests.

 

In test kit news, I've recently discovered that one of my RedSea nitrate test kits is lying to me. The tank had consistent results of 0-1 ppm nitrates for years and aside from a little algae there was never any reason to suspect nitrates were anything other than 0-1 ppm. (using the standard RedSea nitrate test kit) A month or so ago I discovered the RedSea Nitrate pro test kit which is supposed to be able to report results between 0-1 ppm accurately. It sounded like a great idea so that I didn't accidentally strip ALL the nitrates from the water while I treat for high phosphates. But, big surprise, the nitrate pro kit claims nitrates are 64 ppm. Of course this set off a lot of confusion and mistrust for these kits. Is it 0-1 or 64ppm? That's a HUGE discrepancy. Which kit do I act on? If I choose the wrong one, the remedy could nuke a thriving tank. I redid the Nitrate pro test on RODI water which came back with 0 ppm, which swayed me to believe the 64 ppm reading might be accurate. But just in case the nitrate pro kit is lying to me I decided to buy NOPOX and dose 1/4 the recommended amount for the first treatment. 3-4 weeks after the one and only initial dose, it takes 3 days for film to grow on the tank walls which tells me NOPOX was a good move and I expected nitrates to be lower - but they came back at the same level: 64 ppm. I keep going back to how well the coral and fish look so I don't consider anything an emergency requiring a water change. But it's all very confusing and frustrating to not know what to act on.

 

So another question I have is how much the dosing of Potassium Nitrate to maintain potassium levels has played into the test kit results. I wish I had a way to determine if the nitrate levels are higher from natural processes in a captive reef or whether it is from the potassium nitrate. Regardless, I'll be switching to dosing potassium chloride since the chloride ion level in seawater is naturally high enough that the potassium dosing should be a drop in the bucket.

 

TLDR: switching to potassium chloride from potassium nitrate to maintain potassium levels and I don't know if I should trust my RedSea nitrate test kits.

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

The last 3 months, I've been really putting in the hours painting and have 6 new pieces to show for it. Most of them are ocean-related but the one I'm most excited to share with you is what I remember from my first views of my first open water dive at Paradise Shallows, Cozumel, MX. I was blown away by the blue of the water, the purple sea fans and orange and yellow sponges. But most of all, the FISH. They are so amazingly colored! I hope it's not overstepping nano-reef's TOS/culture to say that it's for sale in my ETSY shop. Christopher, let me know if it's not cool to promote here and I'll take it down.

 

[Tamberav]

That is a beautiful painting, can I get a link to your shop?

 

What is RHF's method? If I went a bigger tank, I would be interested in trying the no water change thing...  or at least less water changes. 

 

Also we need pics of the tank too!

 

 

[luckie1966]

On ‎8‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 4:40 AM, Polarcollision said:

From what I’ve read the ORP probe takes a while to break in. I’d believe the 475, with caution since the probes are fritzy. I don’t use ozone But it ranges 423-325. Usually the inverse rise and fall of pH. PH swings are mostly photosynthesis to respiration where free CO2 increases at night. It’s also less than 1 point so nothing to worry about. What I don’t like is that pH drops below 7.75 at night (if I’m trusting the pH probe). So I thought I’d dose boron to bring it back up to NSW levels, which is supposed to help stabilize pH.I don’t do water changes and have to add in minerals that get used up over time. With the recent very poor air quality (seattle’s Making news) pH tanked. See how the high pH is lower than the typical low? And the .2ish swing up on the first smoke day? That’s the boron dose. Air was cleaner this weekend and pH rose higher than before dosing boron, never dropping below 7.75. I’ve always dosed all my alk and Ca throughout the night during the low part of the pH swing to help balance it out.

 

I had apex a little while now and still everythings spot on.   I found out you want salinity probe in a area of high flow clean water and I still get a pretty accurate reading even now 6 plus months later .  The orp probe is spot on too . Still using ozone and I Set up a doser for redsea nopox3 and tanks spotless after a Crazy algae out break. Well not that crazy new tank, 4 athias, a goby and blenny and some one that feeds heavy lol, but I can tell exactly when nopox3 doses on orp graph. Pretty Neat and loving apex.

[vlangel]

Beautiful painting polar!  I have snorkled in Key Largo and the Bahamas but the water appeared more aqua than the blue in your painting.  I would love to learn to dive and see that.

 

And yes, I 2nd needing to see a FTS of your reef.

[Christopher Marks]

Wow, 14 months without water change is impressive! Those nitrate readings are definitely bizarre, but if everything seems healthy and happy in the reef 🤷‍♂️

 

I love your painting, thanks for sharing! Feel free to link to your Etsy store too 🙂 

 

Looking forward to seeing a fresh FTS sometime soon, 5 years is an incredible milestone!

[Polarcollision]

On 2/15/2019 at 2:51 PM, Tamberav said:

That is a beautiful painting, can I get a link to your shop?

 

What is RHF's method? If I went a bigger tank, I would be interested in trying the no water change thing...  or at least less water changes. 

 

Also we need pics of the tank too!

Thank you! I put a lot of focus on recreating the first pillar I saw in Cozumel. Eventually I'd like to paint the life I saw snorkeling in the scuba-donning pool outside our resort. I literally spent 5 hours just floating in the water looking at every nook and cranny. As the sun set, a whole new set of creatures swam into the pool to take shelter over night. It was just incredible being 2-3 feet from a giant blue tang, peacock flounder, ray, and some kind of black and white striped eel/snake.

 

Now that Chris has give the thumbs up, my etsy store is here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/DeborahBakerArtworks

Thanks for the interest!!

 

RHF= Randy Holmes Farley. He's a chemist that I discovered on advanced aquarist website and another reef board. He went so far as providing a recipe for making your own salt water that remains ionically balanced with dosing. Its pretty much the main reason I'm able to go 14 months without water changes. Bulk reef supply sells pharmaceutical grade dosing supplements (BRS brand) that are based on RHF's method, which I've been using for years now. Soda ash, Calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, and magnesium sulfate. Highly recommend!

 

I started the no water change experiment slowly. First I'd go 2 weeks, then a month, then 2 months, then 3 months, then 6 months, and then with the installation of the Apex, I no longer had to do emergency water changes to fix alkalinity swings when a dosing container ran out unaware, so water changes just ended. There were times I was tempted to do a water change, but ended up riding it out and solving the problem in other ways. One thing that happened several months ago: I was getting consistent low alkalinity and calcium readings and a slightly low magnesium reading, so I'd use the apex fusion app to turn on those dosing pumps for 5-6 minutes a couple times over the day for a while, even when I was out of state on vacation. The idea was a slow, continuous rise in levels. I tested alk and Ca but didn't test magnesium levels every day (rarely do) and ended up spiking it to over 1600. It's totally my fault for dosing Mg without testing. One of my SPS didn't like the super high Mg and receded quite a bit. I was tempted to do a water change then and there to reduce Mg, but then figured the damage was done and ended up just turning off the Mg doser and letting it fall naturally over the next week or so. Plus I did a better job testing regularly for Mg in the mean time. Lesson learned. That's really the the only major mishap that affected coral health over the year + with no water changes. Currently the NO3 test kit results have me stumped, but it more a question/problem asking for a solution than a need for a water change, in my mind.

 

I'll see if I can fit in pics of the tank this week! Crossing my fingers it can work out.

 

On 2/15/2019 at 4:22 PM, luckie1966 said:

I had apex a little while now and still everythings spot on.  I found out you want salinity probe in a area of high flow clean water and I still get a pretty accurate reading even now 6 plus months later .  The orp probe is spot on too . Still using ozone and I Set up a doser for redsea nopox3 and tanks spotless after a Crazy algae out break. Well not that crazy new tank, 4 athias, a goby and blenny and some one that feeds heavy lol, but I can tell exactly when nopox3 doses on orp graph. Pretty Neat and loving apex.

Yeah, now that I've had it over half a year, I'm starting to trust the probes and know when they're in need of calibrating. I just looked at my ORP graph from yesterday when I added 2 mL NOPOX. It jumped from 321 to 327 which looks significant in the daily fluctuation between 316-333.

 

On 2/16/2019 at 7:05 AM, vlangel said:

Beautiful painting polar!  I have snorkled in Key Largo and the Bahamas but the water appeared more aqua than the blue in your painting.  I would love to learn to dive and see that.

 

And yes, I 2nd needing to see a FTS of your reef.

Thank you Dawn! Oh, I'm so jealous of your FL and Bahama snorkeling!! Yeah, the water in Cozumel really was that color of blue. It's just crazy intense when the sun is shining just right. The visibility was pretty good too, which I think allows it to be so cobalt blue. I'd say ~100 feet, but I'm a terrible judge of distance underwater. When I was looking for photos references of carribean sea fans, I saw a few reefs from elsewhere in the carribean and I'm so hooked! They're just incredible! Diving is a fabulous adventure. The entire time I was really disliking the whole breathing aspect of it, but kept getting distracted by the amazing fish and coral EVERYWHERE. Plus there were so many aspects to the ecosystem that we just can't purchase at reef outlets. I'd really love to get my hands on some of the tunicates and sponges and macro algae.

 

OK, OK! LOL I'll try to get a pic soon. 😄

 

On 2/16/2019 at 8:52 AM, Christopher Marks said:

Wow, 14 months without water change is impressive! Those nitrate readings are definitely bizarre, but if everything seems healthy and happy in the reef 🤷‍♂️

 

I love your painting, thanks for sharing! Feel free to link to your Etsy store too 🙂 

 

Looking forward to seeing a fresh FTS sometime soon, 5 years is an incredible milestone!

Well, there's a tiny bit of hair algae on that SPS that receded in the Mg spike, but other than that, I see very little evidence of 64 ppm. so yeah hands in the air. I do love the no-water change method. Next, I hope to send a sample off to ATI for their input on how well I'm actually doing on keeping ions balanced. Hopefully I'll get a day in the next month to run the full battery of home tests and send a sample off.

 

I'll try to get a photo of the reef very soon! NR has kept my interest alive over the 5 years and been a great resource for finding out info and making a record of the tank to refer to later. Thank you so much for keeping NR up and running for all of us!! 🙂

 

Thanks for being cool about sharing the reef-related paintings! My Etsy store is here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/DeborahBakerArtworks

 

And if you're interested in how a painting is made, I did my first ever time-lapse posted over on youtube here, though it's on one of my other obsessions (falconry):