Teenyreef's IM40 Not-So-Teeny Tank - August FTS

[teenyreef]

On 10/9/2018 at 7:51 PM, Cannedfish said:

Done tank looks mo’ better than some hot oil and bucket of frogs! 

 

Holy good golly, sweet baby Jesus am I behind in spamming your thread! Unacceptable! I’m, better than that, if

only slightly!

 

First off, the tank looks great. I really like what you’ve done with the place. It, of course, always looks good, but the slight remodeling really has helped pull the room together. Like I’ve always said never underestimate the power of an accent wall and new drapes!

 

Next,  unless it’s my fat cousin Carl attempting to be the fourth to squeeze into the backseat of a Ford Fiesta, I agree that there is alway room for one more. As demonstrated by my terrible tattoo, credit card bill, and college report cards, the only thing I can’t resist is temptation. With that being said, while I applaud your live rock building skills, however I feel like your working too hard for that

extra frag (or seven). Don’t work harder, work smarter! Let the tank work for you. Just stick a monti cap in the back corner, and voilà, every month or so you have more surface area to rack up those Amex Delta miles!

 

 

Lastly, your clownfish eggs picture is just straight insane. Insane I say! I strive to take a photo half as amazing one day. 

 

But in all serious, as everyone has come to expect,your tank (actually, tanks plural), look stunning!  They truly continue to be a gold standard of nano reef keeping. Great job!

Thank you! I'll have to work on those new frag racks monticaps!

[teenyreef]

Today is the end of the fourth week since I installed the algae turf scrubber. After reducing the photoperiod it seems to be growing algae a little faster. It is now growing brown slime, which the manual explained could happen in the beginning. The manual was very thorough and well-written, and even included several color pictures of different kinds of slime so I'd know what to expect. 

 

 

It doesn't look like much, but after cleaning it with a toothbrush as instructed, I ended up with a surprisingly large amount of algae. And I'm not seeing this kind of algae growth in the display tank, so the ATS is definitely growing algae that's outcompeting the display tank.

 

The manual says this black growth will occur in high-phosphate tanks (that's me!) and the black stuff has a higher concentration of phosphates. It says I should reduce the air bubbles, eliminate the internal shade, and run the light 24 hours a day. I'm not sure if I'm in that position, though, because I also have some green growth. But I'll try it that way for a week and see what happens. The idea is that slower bubbles will avoid blowing the slime off, and the increased light will cause the slime to grow faster and reduce the phosphates faster, speeding the day when green algae starts growing.

 

 

[teenyreef]

The JF Sidetracked goni seems to be doing well and has regained a little color. And it definitely likes being fed!

 

 

This is a closer view of the hawking echinata. I think the bleaching may have been something that was going on for a while and was just more apparent after I moved it to the front of the tank where I can see it better. There's algae growing on some of the tips, so it's been stressed for a while. I'm going to leave the lights down/short for another day or two, then gradually bring the intensity and duration back up.

 

 

[Tamberav]

I don't have a scrubber but my back chambers get light from the DT lights and seem to grow all sorts of slimey algae that isn't in the DT. I always loved the idea of scrubbers.. Look forward to see how it works out. 

[Zuma]

Excellent aquascaping and photo's as always.

[Porkpie5000]

On 10/10/2018 at 7:36 PM, teenyreef said:

Today is the end of the fourth week since I installed the algae turf scrubber.

Any update on the ATS?

[teenyreef]

On 10/19/2018 at 3:33 PM, Porkpie5000 said:

Any update on the ATS?

Oops, I missed updating last week. Here's what it looked like last Wednesday after running 24/7 with no shade and minimal bubbles:

 

 

I cleaned it with a toothbrush that night, and by Sunday it was even thicker, so I cleaned it again. And now, on Wednesday night, it's growing back thick already, with almost as much growth in four days than it had in the previous week.

 

 

So things seem to be going the way they are supposed to, with a dark slime phase that will continue as the high levels of phosphates are consumed. Eventually, in weeks or months, it's supposed to transition to green algae which will be harvested every 3-14 days.

 

In the meantime, when I checked parameters last week, both nitrates and phosphates have continued to go through the roof (since I discontinued NoPox dosing). Two weeks ago, nitrates were at 48 and phosphates were at .33. I've been trying to avoid artificially reducing nitrates and phosphates because that could slow down the establishment of algae in the ATS. But those levels were just too much for me to stomach, even though the tank is still doing fine. I just worry about hitting a tipping point and getting a sudden crash.

 

So, I dosed four drops of PhosphateRX and left everything else alone. Last week, phosphates dropped to .25 but nitrates were still at 48. So for the first time in about a year, I did a 25% water change just to bring things down a bit. I haven't had a chance to re-measure parameters, but the tank still looks fine, with normal algae growth on the glass and no real algae growth on the rocks. Corals still have good color and growth, but since the water change, I've seen alk consumption go up, which would seem to indicate the corals are happier.

 

I'm going to check levels again this weekend. Between the water change and the increased algae growth in the ATS, I'm hoping for decreases. If not, I'll do another water change just to stay safe.

[teenyreef]

Oops, just realized I uploaded the wrong pics...stand by while we fix these technical difficulties...

[teenyreef]

Fixed the pictures!

[--chris--]

Thats some gross looking goo!  lol, its hard to argue with algae growth when you see it.  How long does the whole establishment of the ATS take?  

[teenyreef]

11 hours ago, --chris-- said:

Thats some gross looking goo!  lol, its hard to argue with algae growth when you see it.  How long does the whole establishment of the ATS take?  

It depends (of course). The manual says it can be as quick as two or three weeks, but it says if you get slime, it's due to high levels of phosphates in the rocks and the slime phase can take weeks or months. They do say the slime concentrates phosphates more the green algae does, so small amounts of slime are still pulling stuff out of the tank.

 

As long as the scrubber continues to increase algae production, I'm encouraged that things are going in the right direction.

[tolgayaman]

I've read every single page from the begining. Great work. 

[Porkpie5000]

On 9/18/2018 at 5:51 PM, teenyreef said:

I've thought about a DROP .6x in my IM10.

I was about to pull the trigger on the DROP .6 but the website says "DROP.6 size: 3.25" wide x 5.5" tall x 2.75" thick front-to-back".  Isn't that slightly too thick? The DROP .2 would certainly fit but it is awfully small.

 

Edit: Never mind, I read the dimensions wrong. It should fit. 

 

Also, what air pump are you using?

 

Edited October 26, 2018 by Porkpie5000

[ReefGoat]

Does anyone perhaps know the name of the very bright lime green coral that has red eyes in the top down shots upper left. Mummy's eye chalice?

[teenyreef]

2 hours ago, ReefGoat said:

Does anyone perhaps know the name of the very bright lime green coral that has red eyes in the top down shots upper left. Mummy's eye chalice?

You are correct!

[teenyreef]

10 hours ago, Porkpie5000 said:

I was about to pull the trigger on the DROP .6 but the website says "DROP.6 size: 3.25" wide x 5.5" tall x 2.75" thick front-to-back".  Isn't that slightly too thick? The DROP .2 would certainly fit but it is awfully small.

 

Edit: Never mind, I read the dimensions wrong. It should fit. 

 

Also, what air pump are you using?

 

I'm using a hugely overpowered old Coralife Luft pump (the discontinued brown one that was really good, not the new blue one). It's adjustable and pretty much bullet proof so I didn't bother to try any of the other air pump zoo members in the big box of fish tank stuff. I would guess any reasonably sized air pump would work fine.

12 hours ago, tolgayaman said:

I've read every single page from the begining. Great work. 

Wow, that's impressive! Thank you, and I hope it was worth the time!

[teenyreef]

I took a lot of pictures tonight...here's a sneak peak 🙂

 

 

 

 

[skyscraper2290]

1 minute ago, teenyreef said:

I took a lot of pictures tonight...here's a sneak peak 🙂

 

 

 

 

The white acans in the first picture, so awesome! Looking great!

[vlangel]

Wow teeny those pics are clear and bright!  HD for sure! 

[Justind823]

The tank is looking great! 

 

How's the noise level on that ATS unit? I'm sure there is a little noise from the air pump but what about the air being released from the scrubber? I've been considering one for awhile but my tank is so quiet I'm afraid to add something new. 

[teenyreef]

On 10/29/2018 at 6:22 PM, Justind823 said:

The tank is looking great! 

 

How's the noise level on that ATS unit? I'm sure there is a little noise from the air pump but what about the air being released from the scrubber? I've been considering one for awhile but my tank is so quiet I'm afraid to add something new. 

It's pretty quiet. The only thing that makes noise is the bubbles and it doesn't require really heavy bubbling. I keep the air pump under the cabinet with a check valve to avoid siphoning.

[teenyreef]

I've been posting a picture of the ATS every Wednesday. I forgot to post, but this is what the ATS looked like Wednesday night. This is the new growth after scrubbing it Sunday night. I've left it unscrubbed so I can see how much growth there is after a week. I'll post a new picture Sunday.

 

 

[vlangel]

So, it seems to me that the ATS is doing something with growing that much algae.  Are you pleased so far?

[teenyreef]

4 hours ago, vlangel said:

So, it seems to me that the ATS is doing something with growing that much algae.  Are you pleased so far?

So far I'm please with how it is designed and operates. But my nutrients got so high after I turned off the NoPox dosing that I really can't say whether it's really doing anything for nutrient reduction. I don't think I'll be able to really tell until it gets through the slime stage and starts rapid growth of green algae.

 

In the meantime, I've been doing weekly 25% water changes to get things back under control. Once I've got it back where I want it through water changes, I'll leave it alone and see if the ATS keeps things under control.

[vlangel]

9 hours ago, teenyreef said:

So far I'm please with how it is designed and operates. But my nutrients got so high after I turned off the NoPox dosing that I really can't say whether it's really doing anything for nutrient reduction. I don't think I'll be able to really tell until it gets through the slime stage and starts rapid growth of green algae.

 

In the meantime, I've been doing weekly 25% water changes to get things back under control. Once I've got it back where I want it through water changes, I'll leave it alone and see if the ATS keeps things under control.

Thanks teeny.  I am interested because I am thinking about an ATS inside my Aquaclear on the 56g.  I want some nutrient control but it is suppose to be a high nutrient tank so I am still in the thinking stage.