kdrof's IM20 Reef Tank (Shutdown)

[Kdrof]

It had . Since the SPS issue last week, I had the nutrient spike which started some sort of nuisance algae. I had not had any before. So I believe the only reason it is growing is because of the excess nutrients in the tank. I changed my filter media in hopes that that will slow it down. Before the spike in nutrients a week ago, I had no algae at all. I would only have to clean the glass approx 1.5-2 weeks. I hope to get back to this point

 

I also may get some other brand test kits for Nitrates and Phosphates. With what my test kits are reading, I should not have any algae issues (Reading minimal nitrates and 0 phosphates). So something tells me that they are not reading accurately.

 

Thanks for the comments on the RBTA. I love it. I think your acclimation sounds fine. You can always leave it where it is for a few weeks to be sure. I would guess it may take that long to color up anyhow. How fast did its color change when increasing the lighting intensity?

[Kdrof]

After changing the Phosguard and Chemipure Elite out, it seems to have made a big difference in the tank. I am guessing after the nutrient spike, the media must of been exhausted and not able to keep up. After cleaning areas with the algae and then seeing it come back yesterday before the media change, it has actually went away and is looking a ton better. I guess I will swap the media out more than the three month recommendations now that my tank is maturing. Learn something new everyday in this hobby. Sad, but thankful I had only lost a few pieces during this nutrient spike and will slowly get back to where I was.

[DIRK DIGGLER]

so have you noticed that algae growth is minimal with having the greens and reds at 5%? any pic updates?

color is changing slowly. but its been 3 weeks. anemones looking a little bleached out at 61%. might dial it down to 58% where i saw the best response. oh and with your chemi pure how many oz are you using and just 1 bag?

[Kdrof]

Hey Dirk,

I have been battling some nutrient issues in the tank. I stopped siphoning the sand out for a month and a half and seem to have caused some excess nutrients. It is not terrible, but I think my coloration has been slightly effected by the nutrients. With that said, I added a skimmer to that tank to hopefully pull out some nutrients. I will post an update in a few weeks after the skimmer has ran.

 

I am using 1 bag of the Chemipure elite. It should be the 6.5 ounce container and the media is bagged.

[DIRK DIGGLER]

Man good to hear from you! Thought you were never coming back. I've been dealing with the same issue as far as nutrients go. I'm actually doing the opposite right now and stopped siphoning the sand bed as I feel that I keep creating a mini cycle everytime I disrupt the sandbed. Were you planning to add another bag of Chemi pure as well?

[Kdrof]

I am only using 1 bag of chemipure and 1 bag of phosguard. The new skimmer is pulling out quite a bit of skimmate. So I hope that this will help the media last longer. After this time, I am going to leave the single of each bag of media and see if will last longer and not get exhausted as quickly.

 

The color on most of the coral seem to be brightening so I will let it stay where it is for several weeks and go from there. Ill post an update in the next few weeks.

[uwdanno]

Updates?

[natedogg]

Update?

[Kdrof]

On 5/14/2018 at 7:54 PM, natedogg said:

Update?

Nate, unfortunately I had a crash back in 2016.  just got back in and started an im10 build with a new journal. Just completed the cycle and about to start adding livestock. Feel free to check it out  

Take care

 

 

[jhall651]

Kdrof, I am building almost the exact set up (same tank, radion 15, mp10, eshopp skimmer, apex controller, heaters, etc).  So basically the bones of the system are the same.  I will have some sps but not nearly as heavy as yours was.  Any advice on things I should add or do to the tank?  In addition to the skimmer I am currently just using the 2 filter socks the tank came with and a bag of chemipure.  Would you be able to tell me what media racks you used, what probe holder that was, skimmer level/settings, where you had your chemi and phosguard bags located, and anything else you would recommend.  Also I have the tunze osmolator pumping into the sump but I think that because the sump is so small it fills it up to much before the sump can level off.  I have the tunze turn down to nano and it keeps happening.  Did yours do this?  Thank you so much for any help you can provide.

[Kdrof]

26 minutes ago, jhall651 said:

Kdrof, I am building almost the exact set up (same tank, radion 15, mp10, eshopp skimmer, apex controller, heaters, etc).  So basically the bones of the system are the same.  I will have some sps but not nearly as heavy as yours was.  Any advice on things I should add or do to the tank?  In addition to the skimmer I am currently just using the 2 filter socks the tank came with and a bag of chemipure.  Would you be able to tell me what media racks you used, what probe holder that was, skimmer level/settings, where you had your chemi and phosguard bags located, and anything else you would recommend.  Also I have the tunze osmolator pumping into the sump but I think that because the sump is so small it fills it up to much before the sump can level off.  I have the tunze turn down to nano and it keeps happening.  Did yours do this?  Thank you so much for any help you can provide.

J, 

I had the InTank media baskets. They are really nice and I have another in my current IM10 build. I replaced filter socks because they got dirty and held nutrients quickly and were a pain to clean. I ran filter floss on the top of the InTank media basket to catch particulates, then I ran chemipure/phosguard in the main chamber below the floss. I would then replace one sides filter floss each week and to not change to much at one time. I also would alter swapping the chemipure/phosguard every so often (much less frequently than filter floss). I would highly recommend the InTank media baskets. 

 

The probe holder was the Apex probe holder. It was very nice and I really liked it.

 

The skimmer was touchy at first until it was broke in. I ran it quite low for a long time as it was messy if the cup filled up. Also, I would recommend making a mark or some way to know where the magnet is supposed to sit. Very easy to have skimmer dialed in and the magnet move or come off while doing maintenance and then have to get it at the right height again...

 

Regarding the Osmolator, I had it in the middle section as that is the area that is affected by the evaporation. I then had the ATO inlet in the Apex probe holder very close to the reactor. I do not recall having any issue with it as I had the two in the same area, it was just quite large in the back chamber. In my current build, I got the Smart ATO Micro. I would highly recommend it if the Tunze is giving you fits. It is tiny, the sensor is accurate and saves soooo much space. This might help you as it will have just the inlet for top off water and the one sensor. I believe, their failure prevention is timed based unlike the float valve.

 

Lastly, if I can recommend any words of advice that I learned from that system... first, patience - its easy to get excited and get a lot of inhabitants at one time and we dont have much wiggle room in these tiny reefs.  So add something and let your system balance out. Second, try to keep hands out and limit changes. If you make one, do not make others so you know what effect it had on your system over several weeks. For example, I felt i could never get my radion dialed in and was constantly changing it - me changing it was probably the part of the issue. One persons light schedule may work for them but not for you due to water quality, placement, etc. etc.

Third, get a plan together and stick to it. Its very easy seeing all these beautiful systems and chasing their successes and trying to mimic others and constantly changing your own plan.

Also, inspect your reef often as one coral colony RTN'ing (Dying) can cause the tank to crash - this happened to me while I was out of town at a conference. My wife was watching the tank for me - the light blue Acro was nearly the same color when all of its tissue was pealed off.. so my wife did not notice (not her fault) and everything looked perfect through my reefs camera... Until I got home and was deflated and one colony dying took down the majority of others. I then decided to take the system down and take a break because I put so much effort and heart into the build and I needed to take some time away. I also wanted to get rid of Bristle worms that were huge and in the live rock that I had got and I never had seen them that big/bad. Lastly, dont get caught up in GAS (gear attainment syndrome).. Many hobbies have this whether its photography, reef keeping, etc. - this is a slow hobby as far as progress and we can turn our focus towards hardware changes and tinkering to keep us engaged. Get it setup - get some specimens and enjoy spending time watching them. I spent way to much time tinkering. Most of the good reefs you see on this site that have had crazy success, spend the majority of their time watching, observing and connecting with their reef and they know when something is not right. Sorry to ramble on here a bit, but these are some of the things I learned looking back on this tank. The best tanks dont always have the highest end gear either. I mention this because we can question if something isnt going right and wonder how we have issues when we have the best of each component... The best gear can assist you, it wont save you in most cases but..Good husbandry and patience are the biggest help - and water changes 😄

 

Let me know if you have any other questions and I am happy to help!

 

[jhall651]

Kdrof,

 

Thanks so much for the awesome and informative reply.  So I just checked out the intank media baskets and they look awesome.  Im 100% going to purchase a couple.  So if I got this right you had the filter floss on the top (first) chamber, then the chemi/phos bags under that, and so did you not have anything in the lowest bottom chamber?  Also how did you have the floss?  Did you cut it to fit perfect with just one layer? Or did you stuff a bit in and kind of double it up so to speak?  Also, and this actually has me confused and wondering if I am doing this wrong.  I noticed that your sump water level was high enough to actually be over the 2nd set of chambers.  I thought you wanted it lower so that it rolls over those second chambers and into the middle main chamber.  Is that not true?

[Kdrof]

7 hours ago, jhall651 said:

Kdrof,

 

Thanks so much for the awesome and informative reply.  So I just checked out the intank media baskets and they look awesome.  Im 100% going to purchase a couple.  So if I got this right you had the filter floss on the top (first) chamber, then the chemi/phos bags under that, and so did you not have anything in the lowest bottom chamber?  Also how did you have the floss?  Did you cut it to fit perfect with just one layer? Or did you stuff a bit in and kind of double it up so to speak?  Also, and this actually has me confused and wondering if I am doing this wrong.  I noticed that your sump water level was high enough to actually be over the 2nd set of chambers.  I thought you wanted it lower so that it rolls over those second chambers and into the middle main chamber.  Is that not true?

J,

The chemipure and phosguard bags take up two chambers in the intank. So you take the middle shelves out. So filter floss cut so it fits snug and runs through on the top. Then on one side in second chamber the chemipure bag, and other side phosguard bag in the second chamber. 

 

Regarding the sump water height, the tank is designed (I believe) to have water fall over the (second chamber) last baffle down to the return pump (main chamber)  to get rid of micro bubbles etc. so you are correct. I ran mine high for several reasons - 1) it quiets the system down not trickling 2) allowed for my tunze ATO to be more accurate 3) any extra water volume helps. 🙂. I never had any issue with micro bubbles and most particulates are caught in the floss and any skimmer microbubbles came out the bottom of skimmer in second chamber so they had to rise up to top and would dissipate since return is at the bottom. 

 

Let me know if you have any other questions 🙂

 

one other thing - get some brushes or other cleaning tools to clean under the first two chambers in the sump. A lot of detritus and crud gets down there over time and it can be a nitrate issue. This is one part of tank design with the IM’s that I don’t care for - yes it’s more water volume but it’s a pain to clean it out. I usually tried to clean mine out every few weeks. 

[jhall651]

On 6/6/2018 at 8:20 AM, Kdrof said:

J,

The chemipure and phosguard bags take up two chambers in the intank. So you take the middle shelves out. So filter floss cut so it fits snug and runs through on the top. Then on one side in second chamber the chemipure bag, and other side phosguard bag in the second chamber. 

 

Regarding the sump water height, the tank is designed (I believe) to have water fall over the (second chamber) last baffle down to the return pump (main chamber)  to get rid of micro bubbles etc. so you are correct. I ran mine high for several reasons - 1) it quiets the system down not trickling 2) allowed for my tunze ATO to be more accurate 3) any extra water volume helps. 🙂. I never had any issue with micro bubbles and most particulates are caught in the floss and any skimmer microbubbles came out the bottom of skimmer in second chamber so they had to rise up to top and would dissipate since return is at the bottom. 

 

Let me know if you have any other questions 🙂

 

one other thing - get some brushes or other cleaning tools to clean under the first two chambers in the sump. A lot of detritus and crud gets down there over time and it can be a nitrate issue. This is one part of tank design with the IM’s that I don’t care for - yes it’s more water volume but it’s a pain to clean it out. I usually tried to clean mine out every few weeks. 

Kdorf,

 

Thanks again for the help.  I figured you had the water up high for those reasons.  I was wondering if doing so would cause it to filter less but I guess it wouldn't since your still cycling the same volume of water back into the tank regardless.  Funny that you mention those gaps under the 2 chambers.  I didn't even know they existed until I dropped something down there and it disappeared like magic. haha.  Then after like 10 mins of scratching my head and wondering where it went I saw it threw the bottom of one of the chambers.  I have seen junk collect in there already.  I do feel like it was a pretty stupid design but I'm sure some engineer some where that is a lot smarter than me knows why its like that.  Currently I'm wondering if I can take the black coating off the back so that I can have a really good look at things back there.  Maybe even place a small LED light and grow chaeto.  I am also having very annoying issues with my Tunze and I have realized it is because it is such a small tank that by the time the water rises and touches the first sensor it is too late and it gets filled to high.  So I see why you did that.  I ordered my InTanks and they will be here Monday so thanks for the recommendation.  I very excited about this tank but ultimately it is going to wind up being my quarantine tank for a much large one.  If you think of anything else let me know.  I will post some pics of mine soon.  Right now there's not much to look at so I wont bore you.  Thanks again!@

[jhall651]

Hey what are all those little white spots you have on the back?  I'm starting to get them.  I feel like it must be something from the snails.