RollaJase's Trip Off the Deep End - Custom Rimless 55G

[ninjamyst]

Yeah, aqua mags are the only place I know of as well. They still look to be in business, I was going to shoot them an email as when I tried to check out it listed $0 for freight to Australia which I think is incorrect. I have found a few in Australia but they are the wrong kind of rock or they are foam rocks for reptile enclosures and terrariums. Doesn't look that hard to make them TBH, maybe when one of my Jebao RW pumps dies I'll cannibalize the magnets and make my own with some dry rock and reef epoxy.

I also thought about just getting a VERY small frag rack and putting the monti on that. Probably less bulky that way. I am talking about frag rack for ONE or two frags.

 

like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3X-Clear-Coral-Reef-Frag-Racks-Fits-1-2-inch-Frag-Plug-/191909578217?hash=item2caeb3c5e9:g:F~QAAOSwkl5XdBZY

 

[pappadumplingz]

I also thought about just getting a VERY small frag rack and putting the monti on that. Probably less bulky that way. I am talking about frag rack for ONE or two frags.

 

like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3X-Clear-Coral-Reef-Frag-Racks-Fits-1-2-inch-Frag-Plug-/191909578217?hash=item2caeb3c5e9:g:F~QAAOSwkl5XdBZY

 

I doubt the shipping will be free for us, but it looks like a nice alternative.

 

Edit: they don't even post to Australia lol.

[RollaJase]

I also thought about just getting a VERY small frag rack and putting the monti on that. Probably less bulky that way. I am talking about frag rack for ONE or two frags.

 

like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3X-Clear-Coral-Reef-Frag-Racks-Fits-1-2-inch-Frag-Plug-/191909578217?hash=item2caeb3c5e9:g:F~QAAOSwkl5XdBZY

 

 

That's not a bad idea either. Unfortunately that seller doesn't ship to Australia , I'll take a look locally. My biggest concern really is making sure the magnets are good enough to stick through 10mm of glass and hold the weight of the coral as it grows.

[RollaJase]

Just witnessed my Melanurus wrasse have a bite at the Kole Tang, was very interesting to watch. When threatened the Tang immediately flipped over putting it's scalpel between itself and the wrasse. The wrasse landed one good bite right in the middle of the tangs body though, the left hand side, same side as the scalpel. The Tang did a weird thing where it initially chased both the wrasses around with its mouth wide open. This lasted a day or two and everything seems to have settled down now. It does like to chase its reflection in the glass quite rapidly and attack itself from time to time now. I guess the Melanurus doesn't like the idea of no longer being top dog.

 

On the plus side, seeing what the wrasse bite did to the Tang, I am fairly certain that the mark that has appeared along the lower edge of the Tang on the right side of its body is an abrasion from the rocks. Seeing how it sleeps it literally wedges itself between some rock with the left hand side of its body against the overflow and the right side against the rocks. The abrasion doesn't look fluffy like a bacterial infection and it isn't inflamed or bleeding, it literally looks like the coloring has been scraped off, just like the wrasse bite.

 

Damn this Tang has put on some weight though! Hopefully with a growth spurt the wrasses will leave it alone haha.

[pappadumplingz]

The wrasse wanna fight. I wouldn't expect a wrasse to attack a tang. Strange.

[RollaJase]

The wrasse wanna fight. I wouldn't expect a wrasse to attack a tang. Strange.

I'm not sure it is deliberately looking for a fight, I think its more of a dominance thing. The Melanurus wrasse is the largest fish in the tank right now but it is close to being fully grown. The Tang looks larger as it is taller and will eventually out grow the tang. I think the wrasse is just trying to show its dominance and the tang is putting up a show of its own.

 

 

I tell you what though, this light is doing my head in, still can't get the bloody thing to work! I hooked up the BF mini with jumper cables instead of the two piece adapter today. Channel 1 works fine, channel 2 activates UV instead of white (WTF!), channel 3 and 4 (royal blue) don't work, channel 5 (should be UV, doesn't work) and channel 6 (cyan) works. I have double, triple and quadruple checked the wiring and everything going from LED to driver board is 100% correct. The driver on channel 2 popped again, that's the third time it has done it. I am stumped, maybe the BF mini is stuffed? Starting to feel like I'm wasting a whole lot of time and this entire endeavor was a waste of money.

[RollaJase]

My protein skimmer just turned off and won't turn back on. When I flick the power the pump tries to turn on and it really sounds like its having a hard time. I was going to tear the sump apart for a good clean in the next few weeks when I made the new skimmer stand but I guess I need to give the pump a once over tomorrow to get the skimmer back up and running. I turned off the carbon dosing until I get the skimmer back online.

[Arce]

My protein skimmer just turned off and won't turn back non. When I flick the power the pump tries to turn on and it really sounds like the pump is having trouble turning. I'm fair certain the pump just needs a clean. I was going to tear the sump apart for a good clean in the next few weeks when I made the new skimmer stand but I guess I need to give the pump a once over tomorrow to get the skimmer back up and running. I turned off the carbon dosing until I get the skimmer back online.

Give it a scrub and vinegar bath. My sicce pump does that sometimes.

[RollaJase]

Give it a scrub and vinegar bath. My sicce pump does that sometimes.

That's the plan . Skimmer went silent at literally 11.30pm so it will have to wait until after work tomorrow. I'll just give the pump a good clean. The rest of the body can was until I do the sump clean.

[RollaJase]

Anyone using MarinePure blocks or balls in their system? I've been looking into increasing my biological filtration and was thinking of replacing some LR rubble (that I mainly use for fragging zoas) with some of the balls in a custom media rack in the sump. I have stumbled across a very interesting article on R2R investigating whether or not the MarinePure product leaches toxic amounts of aluminium into the water.

 

The space I have in my sump for the LR rubble can be seen in the below pictures. It's the part at the front of the middle chamber.

Would be pretty simple to make a small media basked out of some off cut acrylic strip that I have laying around. IMO the basket would be 100% required so I actually do the maintenance and rinse the balls in old tank water when I do a water change.

[pappadumplingz]

Anyone using MarinePure blocks or balls in their system? I've been looking into increasing my biological filtration and was thinking of replacing some LR rubble (that I mainly use for fragging zoas) with some of the balls in a custom media rack in the sump. I have stumbled across a very interesting article on R2R investigating whether or not the MarinePure product leaches toxic amounts of aluminium into the water.

 

The space I have in my sump for the LR rubble can be seen in the below pictures. It's the part at the front of the middle chamber.

Would be pretty simple to make a small media basked out of some off cut acrylic strip that I have laying around. IMO the basket would be 100% required so I actually do the maintenance and rinse the balls in old tank water when I do a water change.

Got a bunch of marine pure balls in the back of my tank. Also have a block in the clownfish tank. Has the nitrifying benefits that you would expect with any bio media, but also has some de nitrifying properties too. Probably one of the better bio media's on the market. And the marine pure leaching aluminium is a myth.

[RollaJase]

Got a bunch of marine pure balls in the back of my tank. Also have a block in the clownfish tank. Has the nitrifying benefits that you would expect with any bio media, but also has some de nitrifying properties too. Probably one of the better bio media's on the market. And the marine pure leaching aluminium is a myth.

I'll be wary of it until I see some solid articles but people say the same thing about Phosguard and from what I recall it wasn't until recently that it was proven to leach aluminium. It definitely looks like a better option than a lot of the other stuff going around that's for sure. You don't have any issues at all with it? Where did you get yours from? I've found a few places online as well as eBay that carry it within Australia.

[pappadumplingz]

I'll be wary of it until I see some solid articles but people say the same thing about Phosguard and from what I recall it wasn't until recently that it was proven to leach aluminium. It definitely looks like a better option than a lot of the other stuff going around that's for sure. You don't have any issues at all with it? Where did you get yours from? I've found a few places online as well as eBay that carry it within Australia.

I got it from one if the lfs' I go to. I saw a vid online that majestic aquariums did, where they did a triton test on their water to see if there was excess aluminium in it, since all their systems use the stuff, and it came back fine.

[RollaJase]

I got it from one if the lfs' I go to. I saw a vid online that majestic aquariums did, where they did a triton test on their water to see if there was excess aluminium in it, since all their systems use the stuff, and it came back fine.

Hmm, I might track down that video. The thread I am reading started in 2014 and there appears to be a distinct correlation between users with the media getting back high aluminium results on their Triton tests. I don't know if Triton adjusted the test at a later date or if any conclusive evidence comes out of this thread. I'm 13 pages into a 30 page read lol.

[pappadumplingz]

This is the vid

[RollaJase]

This is the vid

Cheers bud, I was just about to go looking for that. I'm just finishing up my water tests and I'll take a look.

[RollaJase]

Stripped the skimmer down tonight and serviced the pump. Yup, so much calcium build up around the impeller housing that I'm not surprised the impeller was having trouble spinning. I soaked the impeller and poured straight white vinegar into the impeller housing and 15mins later the deposits just crumbled away. Good as new and working just as good as the day I got it .

 

As for Marine Pure media I think I may give it a try and buy a 1 liter kit (1 quart for those of you still using the imperial system). According to their website this amount is their recommendation for 100G of water. Realistically I'm probably closer to 70-75G total volume (including sump) so it may be a little overkill. The full liter probably wont fit where I want to put it anyway.

[jedimasterben]

This is the vid

Even the name of the video isnt right

 

Marineland blocks do leach aluminum in saltwater, but it's not an immediate thing and happens over time, especially if you do not rinse the dust off of it first. There have been a lot more people doing Triton tests that are showing elevation. I added a few liters of Seachem deNitrate media to my sump, which is the same material without the macropores, and some of my leathers closed up tight and didn't start opening until I did a 70% water change after removing the media. The next choice I made was to use sintered glass media, which I had much better results from in the short time until that tank sprung a leak

[pappadumplingz]

Even the name of the video isnt right

 

Marineland blocks do leach aluminum in saltwater, but it's not an immediate thing and happens over time, especially if you do not rinse the dust off of it first. There have been a lot more people doing Triton tests that are showing elevation. I added a few liters of Seachem deNitrate media to my sump, which is the same material without the macropores, and some of my leathers closed up tight and didn't start opening until I did a 70% water change after removing the media. The next choice I made was to use sintered glass media, which I had much better results from in the short time until that tank sprung a leak

I didn't rinse off the dust...

[RollaJase]

Even the name of the video isnt right

 

Marineland blocks do leach aluminum in saltwater, but it's not an immediate thing and happens over time, especially if you do not rinse the dust off of it first. There have been a lot more people doing Triton tests that are showing elevation. I added a few liters of Seachem deNitrate media to my sump, which is the same material without the macropores, and some of my leathers closed up tight and didn't start opening until I did a 70% water change after removing the media. The next choice I made was to use sintered glass media, which I had much better results from in the short time until that tank sprung a leak

Thanks Ben, I'll keep that in mind. I figure, for $25 its worth a shot, even if it is short term. I never add any media to the tank before rinsing or soaking it in fresh water first . I've only got the one leather so I guess I'll use that to gauge how things are going. Which sintered glass media did you use? I might try that method in the future also. I was also considering Seachem Matrix but out of the two (Matrix and MarinePure) MarinePure seemed to get the better reviews.

[jedimasterben]

I didn't rinse off the dust...

Woe! Woe be unto your reef! Woe, I say!

 

Soft corals, specifically Sinularia and Sarcophyton leathers, are typically hit hardest by elevated aluminum in the water, so you probably won't see much negative, if any.

[RollaJase]

What do you guys make of this? This is the patch on the Kole Tang. The first picture shows the graze along the lower edge of its body. This was larger and whiter and has considerably shrunk over the course of this week. It's obviously been healing as the patch has shrunk and the colour is returning. The picture over exaggerates how white it is due to the editing.

This morning however, I noticed that some white fuzz has formed. This was immediately over the two areas that look to have been grazed the hardest/deepest. The Tang is swimming and eating fine, shows no signs of distress. To be honest, I'm slightly concerned as up until now I thought it was just a graze, I believe it to be getting infected now. I don't believe this is Crypto or HLLE, just a bacterial infection on the exposed/damaged flesh. Here is a close up of the two small fluffy patches.

Should I let this run its course assuming its a bacterial infection and allow the immune system to fight it off or should I be more concerned? I might post this up in the pest/disease forum also.

[pappadumplingz]

Maybe let it run its course. I guess feeding garlic enriched food will help with the immune system. A few weeks ago I found my firefish with a gash on its side, and it healed after a few days, without bacterial issues. I guess the decision is up to you.

[RollaJase]

Update on the Kole Tang. The discoloration of that area is mostly back to normal with the exception of the two slightly fluffy patches that I am fairly convinced are getting smaller. Taking a close look at the fish last night I think the patches look worse than they really are as they are on the very edge of the fish where the body curves and indents before attaching to the lower fins. The discoloration really makes it look like the patches are popping off the body but when you get a look at them from the front or the rear of the fish they are only slightly raised. When I went to pick up my NSW and RODI on Saturday I chatted to the guys at the LFS and they suggested Pimafix which I am very reluctant to try, particularly in the tank as catching this guy will be near impossible. They also suggested letting nature take its course and only look at QT and treatment if things take a turn for the worse. I also called the LFS I got the fish from and had a good chat to them about what happened and the symptoms. They highly recommended leaving the fish in the tank, particularly if it is still acting normal. Their rationale was that trying to catch the fish would cause it much more stress and seeing as the graze is healing itself they are fairly confident the Tang will fight this off on its own. When I told them the fish had put on a lot of weight in such a small period of time and had really coloured up they agreed that the fish would appear to be quite healthy.

 

So, I have left the Tang be for now. He has been getting fed with a variety of pellet and frozen foods, all soaked in tank water with garlic powder. If things start to look bad I'll attempt to catch the fish and isolate it in a separate QT tank.

[RollaJase]

Seachem Garlic Guard and the Marine Pure balls are awaiting collection at the post office, should get them today. I'm looking forward to giving them both a try.

 

I noticed a lump on the Kole Tang last night. Not really a lump but a slightly raised patch in the middle of its body directly above the two white fluffy patches. To be honest, I'm not overly surprised as I have witnessed it trying to scratch itself from time to time against the rocks. An itchy wound in humans typically means it is healing, I hope that's the same for fish... It appears that the patches have shrunk a little more. The Tang is still eating veraciously and besides trying to kill its reflection in the glass it is still acting normally.