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Coral Vue Hydros

1000L mangrove + macroalgae islands


Nstocks

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Never used kalk so can't advise there. I prefer the brs two part for dosing. With so few corals in the tank, what else is suckling up the alk? Got a lot of coralline growth? Have you tested your fresh saltwater mix to see where the levels are?

Never been a fan of gfo. At only .03 why are you trying to lower it?

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No idea why it's so low. I tested the fresh batch of salt, 3 days after mixing/heating and the Alk is 8.1 so still low given that KZ salt is around 10 to 13 - I need to ask KZ what it should be because they don't label it on the box!

 

The GFO is Nyos Phosi-Ex which I'm using for diatoms and algae on the rocks so actual phosphate is likely higher.

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Your salt mix is likely changing based on the time it is mixing/sitting. I've not used that particular brand, but I know some change dramatically from the initial mix to what it can be after sitting a few days. At least that's what I've been told by others on here. I've never let my salt water mix for more than a couple hours before use because I don't have any place to store it.

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I think that's a huge debate that always comes up: How long to store salt water.

 

I asked Kent marine and they said a few months, unheated or heated as long as it's mixed for at least 10 minutes per day. KZ I'm not sure yet. Either way, I don't understand how the levels can drop if it's sealed in a plastic food grade container :wacko:

 

One part of my tank has started to get Cyano so I think I'll change my return line for a split 3/4" Loc line for more controlled flow. (having only the Gyre 150 on half power currently)

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In a very short period of time (a few days) I have what look like red slime algae on some rocks. The sand bed has diatoms and in places dinos'.

 

I've turned up the Gyre from 50% to 80% and also moved it so it's horizontal directly above the rock work, rather than vertical and behind the rocks. After adding a phosphate reactor, I'm wondering if I should wait it out (could easily take a month) or try chemi-clean as a way of controlling it beyond water changes, which will only add silicates to the diatom issue. Of course time will usually work, but I don't want to stare at algae for months on end!

 

Feeding is minimal, once a day frozen food, 0TDS, 5 hour full day light.

 

Just to note, the display to sump turn over is around 3 times hour at best, due to EcoTech misinformation regarding plumbing sizes/conversions, so this is always going to be a slight problem.

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Slowtwitch

I'd probably hit it with the chemiclean. Just be ready for your skimmer to freak out. Who wants to stare at red slime for a month?

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I'd probably hit it with the chemiclean. Just be ready for your skimmer to freak out. Who wants to stare at red slime for a month?

 

 

Exactly!

 

I'll buy a large air stone to increase oxygen and report back the results :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Next batch of bad news :(

 

I ordered 30 snails that were delivered from a very reputable online aquatic retailer. 20 of them (all the white foot torchus snails) were all DOA. So now I'm going to try and get those refunded, although it's doubtful.

 

Second problem is the incredibly dense diatoms I have. I've already cut lights down to actinic only dropped feedings, added more oxygen (micr bubble scrubbing) and added a GFO reactor last week. Obviously it takes time but my gosh the tank is hideous right now!

 

Chemiclean didn't do anything either, for any algae. Flow is high around the tank too.

 

Has anyone found a suitable membrane for RODI that will remove silicates? In my research it's possible to do that by passing the RODI water through silicate remover a few times, but I'm not so sure on that, mostly due to the labour involved.

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I decided to test the tank for silicates - it's 0.25!

 

When my first tank had diatoms it was undetectable and the Salifert test kit states in a marine tank it should not be detectable... I'm running GFO too.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Starting Mangrove Island

 

​After months of searching I've managed to source some 'tall' mangroves with well established root and leaf structure. The first batch of mangroves I bought here in the UK 6 months ago came without leaves or roots and were tiny. The seller had some 18" well established plants for sale, but at £80 each and a lot of time wasting on their part, I ordered some from Europe.

 

Overall I'm quite pleased with them, but it means I need to re-do my rock structure and perhaps fill a container with sand to give them something to hand onto, since they are going to be place in a high flow area next to the Gyre 150. I also need to cut a space out in the mesh cover.

 

Somehow, one of my Chromis, a yellow clown goby, yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp have all disappeared. After taking the rock work apart, nothing was found. Overflows are clean, plumbing is clean, filter socks are always checked and underneath the cabinet is clear. I can only assume they have died,decayed and consumed. No ammonia spikes though.

 

 

26807483683_5efaeacda2_b.jpg

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27442857165_3fa212bd2a_b.jpg

 

Planting mangroves is very tricky! Wedging them between rocks does not work, partially because I need a lot of tall rocks to support them (near the return line and gyre).

 

I've attached them to plastic grid which works, but then aquascaping is impossible between hiding 4 of these grids.

 

 

A huge sand mountain with washed up rocks would look awesome, but that requires a sand bed 30cm high, which is bad for so many reasons. (including cost)! Perhaps putting in a large plastic box and suspending the mangroves as below could work? But the sand would keep falling down... Plus I'd need about another 100lbs!

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I filled an 8" cube with live mud and sand and put it in the corner of the main display. I then glued rocks around the 8" cube.

 

Mangroves really grow best when they are planted in something, and not just floating in a sump or behind rocks.

 

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This didn't work, sand just slid down when water as added. Which led to covering it in rocks

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Final

Mangrove%20Macro%20Tank_zps4dfmjwb1.jpg

 

Hope this helps a little. Also, make sure you read all of Giga's threads. He is the one that helped me a lot getting started.

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Now this is exactly what I want to do, just one much larger scale with a sand hill around 30cm, but the as you rightly said, the sand will always fall down. It would be great if Giga's thread showed the images :(

 

Did you dose iron to help your's acclimate? Mine are looking quite sad but then they did spend 4 days in darkness...

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pewpewkittah

Beautiful tank. I cannot wait to see it grown in.

 

One idea for helping the sand put is to use thin acrylic sheets. I've seen them used lots in planted tanks with steep aqua scapes.

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That would be the only way I think, just like how mud hills are supported... I could use rocks for this but they are too expensive to bury! Perhaps bags of??? I can't think of anything that won't cause problems with anerobic bacteria I'm weary of deep beds etc. Corrugated plastic is sometimes used in planted tanks, but 1) it could float and trap dirt and 2) it doesn't really help with reducing the sand bed depth.

 

My idea was to add a drop off but it wouldn't look right and it's not the beach-y look I'm going for.

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How did you anchor the mangroves into that? I'm finding that moving a rock, putting the roots in, adding more roots, more rock is impossible unless I spread them out, which looks natural IMO.

 

I'm thinking about getting this, filling it with sand and trying my best to cover it in sand and rock. So 15 mangroves in a 20cm x 20cm x 25cm high cube. Then to reduce the sand bed volume and keep it in place use either a lot of egg crate or acrylic? Then cover it in rocks for the washed up beach look. (Not sue how quickly the roots are going to grow though...

 

http://charterhouse-aquatics.com/shop/aquatics/aquarium-aquariums/nano-cube-30/dennerle-nano-cube-10-litre-aquarium

 

But, it means a few bags of sand and in most areas the sand will be 10"... I've looked at reverse under gravel filters to disrupt during maintenance? Or I could just stir it but this is going to be a very high maintenance tank!

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On the eggcrate scape layout, I left the back corner with a 8x8" opening and took the 8" cube of mangroves I had in the 18" tank and just put the cube in the spot I made in the egg crate.

 

I didn't replant the mangroves or anything between tanks.

 

The only deep sand/mud bed I have is in that 8" cube.

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I've just used almost half of my sand bed to fill 3 food grade containers (8" x 6" x 10"H) and I'm very happy with how well they are anchored in.

 

To create the rock hill, I could make a platform (like stairs) from egg crate with acrylic to block the holes, then place the rocks on those and fill the gaps with sand? It will take a lot of plastic though :(. And sand.

 

Did you dose iron?

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This is how I have them currently - minus 5 which are in the sump for the time being.

 

I hate it!

 

It's really hard to make it nice when the mangroves are still pretty short, but unless I pay a lot of money for certificates to import from USA/Hawaii, I can't get any higher than this. Even 12" mangroves are special order over here because of their "rarity"

 

My vision was to have the stems 4" lower but the leaves higher (so taller plants) - it turns out the seller measured these including the roots, so I lost 4-5" overall and these were really expensive in comparison to overseas offerings. :(

 

IDK, sometimes I just feel like selling the lot (most of use do!) after so many problems and disappointments and I've been so patient! The mangroves look half dead at this point.

 

26898113054_e568646221_h.jpg

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They're going to grow taller. Lower light will encourage tall growth, then once you get to the height you want you can increase the light back up and start trimming/shaping them.

 

I don't advise on starving them of light to encourage upward growth, but it will work.

 

I didn't dose iron. Can't remember Giga ever mentioning that either.

 

You could also get egg crate and build a platform to raise your containers, but you want the stems lower.

 

Just wait, they'll grow.

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kJXhd5zl.jpg

 

I have some cool mangroves, too. The iron thing I discovered in this journal and was corroborated in this really old study done by Albert Theil though I think it's gone down since, the website is here

 

I think it actually relates iron and the length of the stem, I've had my mangroves in low (no direct sunlight, no artificial light) and with high iron concentrations they've never gotten tall.

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And don't worry how they look right now. Mine looked very similar after I didn't acclimate them from FW to SW and left them without light for a couple days. They'll bounce back.

 

It is very hard to kill a mangrove.

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