In Amber Clad

[jedimasterben]

The 1080 is cool, but not a good upgrade path for me, I'll wait and see what the consumer GP100/200 brings to the table.

[jedimasterben]

Yesterday I replaced all of the drain plumbing under my kitchen sink and put my RO/DI in there with a 3 gallon pressure tank and an AquaticLife Smart Buddie booster pump. I plumbed it so that for drinking water, it all goes after a check valve into the pressure tank, then splits and goes to the faucet I installed on the sink and down under the house across the kitchen to the fridge for cold water and ice. For tank water, it is all before that check valve going to the pressure tank, with a three way valve to go through the DI resins or just straight out to a ball valve for fresh RO that I use for topoff (I only use DI water for water changes).

 

I still need to figure out how to get some bleach into the water/ice system in the fridge. My parents gave me this fridge, we used it with water/ice hookup about a decade ago, then they used it for a few years without it, and then I've used it for a year or so without it, so it's probably a little funky in there lol.

 

In tank news, everything is going pretty smoothly. The fish from LA all have settled down and transitioned well to eating not only my seafood mix but also NLS pellets. Even then tiny fish all go apey for 1mm pellets lol. A couple of my leathers have been very droopy for about three or four weeks now, I have no clue what's going on with them. I still see polyps from them every day, but they're completely slumped over and not inflated. I don't think they're getting too much light, I haven't upped my light intensity any that I'm aware of.

 

Now that I think about it, they started slumping after I added the Seachem deNitrate to the system. I wonder if, since it is also a ceramic, possibly an alumina ceramic, if it also leaches aluminum just like Marinepure media does?

[jedimasterben]

Well, it looks like pumice (which is what Seachem Matrix and deNitrate are made of) is an aluminosilicate, just like the Marinepure blocks. Grrrr.

[markalot]

Well, it looks like pumice (which is what Seachem Matrix and deNitrate are made of) is an aluminosilicate, just like the Marinepure blocks. Grrrr.

 

Oh really? I didn't know Matrix was aluminum based.

[jedimasterben]

Oh really? I didn't know Matrix was aluminum based.

Yeah, I didn't think it was, either, but that what pumice is

 

Oh well, another $60 gone, getting 5L of Eheim Substrat Pro, which is sintered glass.

[jedimasterben]

Poly filter, Substrat Pro should be here today, but I wasn't able to get my water made for the water change yet, maybe only around 5 gallons so far. Boo. I finally remembered that I can use a float valve to cut off the new AquaticLife Smart Buddie I got, so I ordered one on Amazon. Won't be able to use it for this change, but it should make future changes easier.

[Matteo]

Poly filter, Substrat Pro should be here today, but I wasn't able to get my water made for the water change yet, maybe only around 5 gallons so far. Boo. I finally remembered that I can use a float valve to cut off the new AquaticLife Smart Buddie I got, so I ordered one on Amazon. Won't be able to use it for this change, but it should make future changes easier.

I need a float valve cut off....I always forget I am making RODI water and literally let it overflow almost every time *palms face*

[jedimasterben]

Just swapped the deNitrate media for the Substrat Pro. I already like it better because it sinks instead of being just over neutrally bouyant lol. Was a little rusty, but a quick rinse took care of that before putting it in. Still haven't been able to make enough water to do the change, so it will have to go another couple of days, likely. I am going ahead and putting the polyfilter in, though.

[teenyreef]

Boosterbuddie + float valve = total world domination

[jedimasterben]

[kimberbee]

I got a boosterbuddie last week... but didn't order extra tubing to hook it up...

[jedimasterben]

I got a boosterbuddie last week... but didn't order extra tubing to hook it up...

Home Depot sells clear 1/4"OD poly tubing and tons of fittings, I think I paid $4.50 for 25 feet of it.

[masssnapz]

Nice

[jedimasterben]

So I have the water change water all mixed up, but I'm feeling SUPER lazy right now, may do it tomorrow

I will say that already three leathers are opening more than I've seen them in a long time.

[jedimasterben]

Water change completed. Scraped all the glass and found out my inTank scraper does great on the starboard. Gonna have to order another and have one dedicated to the starboard since it is super rough and will damage it over time.

 

 

I think it looks better. MUCH brighter in the tank.

[jedimasterben]

I forgot to mention that in the water change water, I also added somewhere in the neighborhood of 150g of potassium chloride, which should have raised the potassium level from 380-400ppm to 1,025-1,045ppm. Assuming that my tank should have been somewhere in the 45-500ppm range already due to dosing a few teaspoons (7.5g per teaspoon), this would leave my tank in the range. This was allowed to mix with the rest of the salt mix for 24 hours or so prior to the change. No adverse effects, corals are opening up more than they did before, though if my previous assumptions about the aluminum level were correct, then this is due to the aluminum being reduced by ~60% and the removal of the deNitrate pellets and not due to increased potassium levels.

 

So far, my big green nephthea, green and yellow Lobophytums, and my 'SPL' sinularia are still very irritated. The nephthea is the hardest hit and is still shrunken to less than 1/5 of its original size, and my two Lobophytum are completely slumped over. That being said, the brown lobo has perked up, somewhere around 10% or so of normal, and the green one seems to be inflating slightly more than before, so hopefully this is the beginning of the upswing.

 

I also haven't seen my yellowtail damsel at all today. When I siphoned water out, it got caught at the tip top of the leftmost rock structure and was out of the water the entire time, as I could not get anything in to reach and get it out. I kept splashing water on it, and when I went to refill the tank i concentrated on that hole in the rock first, and I saw it swim out, but I've not seen it since. Hopefully it comes around.

[jack1978]

I forgot to mention that in the water change water, I also added somewhere in the neighborhood of 150g of potassium chloride, which should have raised the potassium level from 380-400ppm to 1,025-1,045ppm. Assuming that my tank should have been somewhere in the 45-500ppm range already due to dosing a few teaspoons (7.5g per teaspoon), this would leave my tank in the range. This was allowed to mix with the rest of the salt mix for 24 hours or so prior to the change. No adverse effects, corals are opening up more than they did before, though if my previous assumptions about the aluminum level were correct, then this is due to the aluminum being reduced by ~60% and the removal of the deNitrate pellets and not due to increased potassium levels.

 

So far, my big green nephthea, green and yellow Lobophytums, and my 'SPL' sinularia are still very irritated. The nephthea is the hardest hit and is still shrunken to less than 1/5 of its original size, and my two Lobophytum are completely slumped over. That being said, the brown lobo has perked up, somewhere around 10% or so of normal, and the green one seems to be inflating slightly more than before, so hopefully this is the beginning of the upswing.

 

I also haven't seen my yellowtail damsel at all today. When I siphoned water out, it got caught at the tip top of the leftmost rock structure and was out of the water the entire time, as I could not get anything in to reach and get it out. I kept splashing water on it, and when I went to refill the tank i concentrated on that hole in the rock first, and I saw it swim out, but I've not seen it since. Hopefully it comes around.

Havent peeked in here for a while.....tank looks great in that last pic!.....sorry to hear about the troubles with the leathers. My yellow is still being a pain in the ass. You'll get her figured out.

[jedimasterben]

Havent peeked in here for a while.....tank looks great in that last pic!.....sorry to hear about the troubles with the leathers. My yellow is still being a pain in the ass. You'll get her figured out.

What's funny is my yellow never really skipped a beat, it was everything else in the tank lol. I really noticed the rapid decline in happiness when I took out that sand and put in the deNitrate, so I'm pretty sure that was the actual cause. My trust with Seachem has shrunk considerably in the last few years

[jack1978]

What's funny is my yellow never really skipped a beat, it was everything else in the tank lol. I really noticed the rapid decline in happiness when I took out that sand and put in the deNitrate, so I'm pretty sure that was the actual cause. My trust with Seachem has shrunk considerably in the last few years

Changes suck sometimes.

I added a screen top today....the IM one....thing must be blocking a good 30 - 40% of the light. Everything will probably be dead by morning.

[jedimasterben]

Changes suck sometimes.

I added a screen top today....the IM one....thing must be blocking a good 30 - 40% of the light. Everything will probably be dead by morning.

That's a lot of light loss lol. It's not mesh?

[jedimasterben]

Well, one casualty from the potassium in the water, most likely, my little S. gibberulus conch seems to have died suddenly. My fighting conch is currently stuck under the right rock at the outflow of one of the powerheads, it just pushes him into it, which sucks. I'm not sure if I'll raise the front of the rock up a bit (which should actually increase flow in the tank by quite a bit) or just keep pushing him out of it lol.

[markalot]

My strawberry Conch is sluggish, kind of worried about him. My sandbed seems to be toxic, nothing does well near it except birdsnest corals.

[jedimasterben]

My strawberry Conch is sluggish, kind of worried about him. My sandbed seems to be toxic, nothing does well near it except birdsnest corals.

I wouldn't think that would be possible, if anything were wrong, it would quickly seep throughout the entire tank.

 

Have you thought about using a gravel vac and siphoning that into a fine filter sock in the sump (that way you don't also have to do a massive water change)?

[markalot]

I wouldn't think that would be possible, if anything were wrong, it would quickly seep throughout the entire tank.

 

Have you thought about using a gravel vac and siphoning that into a fine filter sock in the sump (that way you don't also have to do a massive water change)?

 

I will think about that, I have been vaccing every water change. A large piece of the Miami Orchid placed on a frag plug and on the sandbed just up and died, pods all over it. A blue stag right next to it is fine, so perhaps it was nothing. Best solution is to get things off the sandbed so I can stir and keep it clean (looking).

[jedimasterben]

I will think about that, I have been vaccing every water change. A large piece of the Miami Orchid placed on a frag plug and on the sandbed just up and died, pods all over it. A blue stag right next to it is fine, so perhaps it was nothing. Best solution is to get things off the sandbed so I can stir and keep it clean (looking).

Looks are what matters

 

I would also consider, if you think you're up for it with all your rescaping, taking some tonga branch and mortaring/epoxying/carefully balancing it under your rockwork to lift it up off the sand - this way more water can flow to it and less detritus will build up under it.