Mark's 150 (NanoBox Retro)

[markalot]

Trying to identify something new growing on a Rainbow Monti rock ... and some other macro shots.

I started an ID thread for the pic below.

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/348553-new-coral-growing-on-a-2-year-old-rock-need-id/?p=4779367

I assumed it was Pocillopora and it may be, but the polyps don't look exactly the same.


A green/yellow Poci for reference.


The monti has never encrusted over this bump and those hair like things have been growing on this for two years, but these larger polyps are new. Older polyps behind these have a bright green base.
A few other macro shots, since I had the camera out.



The barnacle on this one still lives!


These Blastos have always lived in the 46 so I was never able to get good macro shots.

[Veng]

Wow, the tank upgrade is stunning! This is going to insane as it grows in.

[Felicia]

Wonderful photos! I always love macro shots.

[BattleAthletics]

Damn Mark, this tops all your builds, the tank looks amazing guy!

[metrokat]

I have a lavender with green center blasto that might be fraggable in the future to possibly add to your collection.

[xzeror]

so much win.

[markalot]

Wow, the tank upgrade is stunning! This is going to insane as it grows in.

 

Thanks. It was well worth the effort!

 

Wonderful photos! I always love macro shots.

 

Thanks. I'm going to try and get macros of just about everything, eventually.

 

Damn Mark, this tops all your builds, the tank looks amazing guy!

 

Much appreciated!

 

I have a lavender with green center blasto that might be fraggable in the future to possibly add to your collection.

 

Yes, let me know. I may have one in my little 29 gallon but it's not very colorful yet.

 

so much win.

 

Thanks

[markalot]

So over the last few days I've hooked up my Apex with lab grade probe, hooked up the auto topoff, and added some aeration to the sump when the PH drops below 7.8.

 

Details.

 

I hooked up the lab grade PH probe and it was reading 7.8 to 8.0 PH swings uncalibrated. I calibrated it and this morning I was at 7.4 PH and coral skeletons were slowly dissolving. Riiiiight. I'm just thrilled I paid $20 extra for the lab grade probe. I switched to use the uncalibrated PH2 port which read 7.75 this morning. Believable. I added a couple of air stones and an ait pump for the sump and programmed it to come on when the PH drops below 7.8. I also used the inaccurate API PH kit and got a rock solid 7.8 PH so I'm going to call it accurate and move on.

 

I need to increase evaporation big time. I think a lower PH is an issue, though not one to panic over. After hooking up the ATO (Hydor Smart Level) I have yet to need it. I might have lost 1/8" of water level since yesterday afternoon. To increase aeration I added the ait pumps and pointed a powerhead at the surface in the first sump chamber. I'm looking at removing those plastic attachments that hook to the glass lids. I will probably cut and remove pieces over the overflows so it's not a risk for fish jumping out of the display. This is also where the most water movement is and should help increase evaporation.

 

Current PH 7.89, which is good. I'd rather be low and not swing much than be swinging all over the place.

 

I've been working on KH. I'm up to 100ml daily dosing and KH is right around 8. Working on steadily increasing to 8.5, my new target.

 

Calcium is slowly falling from 500+ to 450 or so. Only dosing 50ml and watching it fall.

[Arkayology]

So over the last few days I've hooked up my Apex with lab grade probe, hooked up the auto topoff, and added some aeration to the sump when the PH drops below 7.8.

 

Details.

 

I hooked up the lab grade PH probe and it was reading 7.8 to 8.0 PH swings uncalibrated. I calibrated it and this morning I was at 7.4 PH and coral skeletons were slowly dissolving. Riiiiight. I'm just thrilled I paid $20 extra for the lab grade probe. I switched to use the uncalibrated PH2 port which read 7.75 this morning. Believable. I added a couple of air stones and an ait pump for the sump and programmed it to come on when the PH drops below 7.8. I also used the inaccurate API PH kit and got a rock solid 7.8 PH so I'm going to call it accurate and move on.

 

I need to increase evaporation big time. I think a lower PH is an issue, though not one to panic over. After hooking up the ATO (Hydor Smart Level) I have yet to need it. I might have lost 1/8" of water level since yesterday afternoon. To increase aeration I added the ait pumps and pointed a powerhead at the surface in the first sump chamber. I'm looking at removing those plastic attachments that hook to the glass lids. I will probably cut and remove pieces over the overflows so it's not a risk for fish jumping out of the display. This is also where the most water movement is and should help increase evaporation.

 

Current PH 7.89, which is good. I'd rather be low and not swing much than be swinging all over the place.

 

I've been working on KH. I'm up to 100ml daily dosing and KH is right around 8. Working on steadily increasing to 8.5, my new target.

 

Calcium is slowly falling from 500+ to 450 or so. Only dosing 50ml and watching it fall.

That's quite a big difference in ph tests. Did you try recalibrating the ph probe to see if the issue continues?

[markalot]

That's quite a big difference in ph tests. Did you try recalibrating the ph probe to see if the issue continues?

 

Nope. I might buy some pinpoint calibration packets some day.

[markalot]

Apparently I have no evaporation. No water loss from yesterday afternoon when I changed out 5 gallons of water.

 

I pulled the glass lids forward to expose an area in the back, hopefully not large enough for a fish to jump through. At lunch I'm going to buy one of those window screen kits and some more egg crate to see what I can make.

[RollaJase]

My Alk is sitting around 8.4 currently, I am stoked, finally things are leveling out. My Cal consumption has slowed substantially since the Alk has stopped swinging. Never really had an issue with pH, it consistently sits between 8 and 8.2, never drops below 7.8. I do top off very frequently though, about 9L of water a week (about 10% of total system volume).

[markalot]

My Alk is sitting around 8.4 currently, I am stoked, finally things are leveling out. My Cal consumption has slowed substantially since the Alk has stopped swinging. Never really had an issue with pH, it consistently sits between 8 and 8.2, never drops below 7.8. I do top off very frequently though, about 9L of water a week (about 10% of total system volume).

 

Yep, lack of evaporation will drive down PH. This tank is tall and narrow so not a lot of surface area compared to volume.

 

Glad to hear you got your Alk stabilized.

[RollaJase]

Yep, lack of evaporation will drive down PH. This tank is tall and narrow so not a lot of surface area compared to volume.

 

Glad to hear you got your Alk stabilized.

You would think that being summer for you guys stateside that you would have decent evap. Have you thought of installing a fan to blow across the surface of the sump? That should help aid with additional evaporation. Thanks, I'm glad things are starting to get back to normal as well.

[markalot]

PH Graph on the uncalibrated PH port.

 

I increased evaporation yesterday before the first high peak, and I opened a basement window this morning and now look at the PH go. Looks like I confirmed a CO2 issue. Also note that my air pump kicks on at 7.9 PH and turns back off at 7.92. You can see the rapid fall to 7.9 and then a slowing fall after that, so the air stones are doing something.

 

[markalot]

Switched back to the calibrated PH outlet. PH 8.02. I'm starting to believe it because I've taken some pics of what appears to be damaged corals and the slimer has had a brownout episode with only the polyps remaining green.

 

So far I've setup air pumps to turn on at a PH of 7.9 or less, opened the back up behind the glass and covered with screen to prevent jumping, and raised the water outlets above the water line so they create some splash into the tank. We shall see how this goes, especially once the weather warms back up and we close up.

[markalot]

Took a lot of pics, most of them diagnostic.

 

This is from kat, the green giant Paly beast.

 

 

And this acro, also from Kat. It's been coloring up very quickly.

 

 

Browned put slimer. This use to be knock your eyes out green prior to the move.

 

 

The SSC hasn't changed much and has been encrusting slowly.

 

 

Fuzzy Purple looks unchanged as well.

 

 

 

The so called Rainbow milli, also unchanged and if it's encrusting it's very slow.

 

 

The unknown milli is unchanged as well, and would look good if those hairy polyps would ever take a break.

 

 

This one, which happens to be near the slimer, took a hit as well. The growth tips still look good but the rest of the coral has browned or darkened.

 

 

There's also these fixed white dots over some of the darker areas. No clue if they are related to the lack of color or not.

 

 

KH climbed to 10 sometime in the last 2 days, which corresponded to the PH drop, so if I had to guess, and in fact I DO have to guess, I did have a serious PH event, growth paused, KH climbed, lots of things got pissed.

 

KH now back to 9 and slowly falling to stabilize at 8.5 I hope.

[RollaJase]

Wow, nice shots Mark, you have some fantastic Acro pieces.

[markalot]

Fish added over the last week and a half.

 

Lyretail is only eating frozen Mysis so far. I hate feeding frozen food. I've got garlic and various flake and freeze dried food I'm trying to coax him into eating.

 

 

These blue eyes cardinalfish are simply stunning. I got a few on the cheap weeks ago and just added 3 more. At certain angles there is an intense blue around the eye and belly along with those orange stripes. Great fish, and great schooler so far.

[markalot]

More PH calibration packets arrive today, along with this stuff:

 

http://premiumaquatics.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=TLF-CDX2&Category_Code=

 

plus an adapter to attach to the skimmer air input. We shall see. Temperatures around these parts are returning to normal (mid 80's) after 3 magnificent days in the low 70's so the house will be closed back up again.

 

I also purchased this: http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/MIL-PH600AQ.html

so I have something else to go on, and I will be trying Seachem salt with the magic of Boron.

 

http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/SALT-S-R-200.html

 

Remember my criteria for salt is that it come in a box of smaller bags, so I can move it without killing the back. I just mixed up 30 more gallons of RC and I really really dislike it. KH 11 at 35ppt and brownish foam crap floating on top. I'm sure it's safe, but the added crap and high KH really turns me off.

[markalot]

Here is the Apex temp and ph chart for the last 2 days. You can see I was able to raise the low end of the PH swing a bit by having the air pumps turn on earlier, putting a fan over the sump to increase evaporation, and adding a wp25 in the center, back wall, set on a rapid wave to shake up the surface of the water. I'm also running with the front lids, uh, propped slightly open. If a fish has good aim they could escape I suppose.

 

 

In addition to all that I smoothed out the lighting curve to also smooth out the PH drop. I had a very smooth ramp up, but my end of day ramp down was rapid and the PH drop showed it. Now it's about equal.

 

Topoff is running once a night now and adding about a gallon at a time, so my evaporation is roughly a gallon a day.

[markalot]

Quick FTS.

 

 

In the good news dept. Pod population exploding, finally, and the algae on the sand is helping. It will fade in a few weeks on it's own if the thin stripe doesn't eat it first. I believe this algae which is on the sand and the tank walls is contributing to the low PH at night. Now that the pod population is ramping up the water smell is getting better. Coincidence, perhaps.

 

Still dosing Prime daily since new fish have been added. Will continue through the weekend.

[best3175]

A nice read. Enjoyed the tank build.

[markalot]

A nice read. Enjoyed the tank build.

 

Well thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

[markalot]

Re-calibrated probe and tested with handheld meter. Both close to 8.1 PH after calibration.

 

 

Installed the CDX media in a phosban reactor connected to the skimmer air intake. PH rose a bit, but not much. The real test will be to see what the low PH is overnight and tomorrow morning.

 

KH tested at 8.1, so that's two days in a row at 8.1. Yay. Calcium 480-490 so also unchanged to dropping very slowly. Going to wait one more day and if it stays at 8.1 I'll raise the dose by 5ml a day and see if I can creep up to 8.5.