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Chris's IM30 - Cheap camera experiment


--chris--

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Another question....

 

I was reading a R2R thread on aragonites (calcium carbonate aka rock and sand) absorption of phosphate.   Apparently it absorbs quite a lot, pretty quickly and will release quite a lot pretty quickly once WCs or p04 removal media drops the suspended p04 levels below the quantity found in the rock.

 

With that now known, I think I should definitely siphon out the sand....all of it.

 

Thoughts?

 

Also ISO 1 or 2  internal nano reactors for p04 remover and carbon.  

 

I was looking at the CPR model for $50 and they look like they would work.   

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Do you have a skimmer? PhosphateRx (lanthanum chloride) is super easy to use and allows you to control phosphates very effectively. And you dose exactly how much want so you don't have to worry so much about dropping phosphates too quickly.

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On 3/30/2018 at 9:46 PM, teenyreef said:

Do you have a skimmer? PhosphateRx (lanthanum chloride) is super easy to use and allows you to control phosphates very effectively. And you dose exactly how much want so you don't have to worry so much about dropping phosphates too quickly.

Skimmer yes, but isn't lanthanum chloride kind of an unknown in reefs?  By that I mean some people report no issues, others report possibly-related issues and then people who understand the stuff and how it works says they are leery of it but have nothing to back up that position.  Whats your take on it?

 


The tank is looking much better today, I have been manually removing algae for 15 minutes every day and it seems to be ripping out easier than before.  

 

I also scored a IM media reactor, ordered some GFO and carbon and now just need to wait for it to show up....

 

Still have not expanded the CuC, I am hesitant to order with the unusually cold weather here (in the 20s at night).

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Too much lanthanum chloride can be harmful for fish as it interferes with their gills. That's why it's critical to have either a skimmer or a fine filter to clear out the precipitated "stuff". But it takes very little to be effective, and as long as you're clearing it out the likelihood of any harm is very low. I've used it in all three of my tanks without any problems, as has Markalot. 

 

I was just wondering if you'd considered it since you were struggling with phosphates so much and it's a quick and easy fix. But like everything else, research is important. Melev's Reef did a pretty thorough video on it...but it was a very enthusiastic video, because works really well for him. So take it with a grain of salt :)

 

 

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13 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Too much lanthanum chloride can be harmful for fish as it interferes with their gills. That's why it's critical to have either a skimmer or a fine filter to clear out the precipitated "stuff". But it takes very little to be effective, and as long as you're clearing it out the likelihood of any harm is very low. I've used it in all three of my tanks without any problems, as has Markalot. 

 

I was just wondering if you'd considered it since you were struggling with phosphates so much and it's a quick and easy fix. But like everything else, research is important. Melev's Reef did a pretty thorough video on it...but it was a very enthusiastic video, because works really well for him. So take it with a grain of salt :)

 

 

HA!  That guy gets fired up sometimes.... does lanthanum chloride solutions come in different concentrations for reef use?  I swear Brightwell had something like this when they launched about 10 years ago....and it was 8oz for about $15.  Thanks for the input, its appreciated.  

 

I move slow with my tank, both good and bad, I feel the tank is progressing pretty well after my recent adjustments.  I will have to grab some shots when a get minute today.  

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Glad things are going well! I use PhosphateRX which was something like $20 for a tiny bottle. That's about a 20 year supply for my tanks :)

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Week 2 of recovery.  Currently dosing 6.5 ml of vodka daily and 10 ml of h2o2 daily.  I have 15 gallons for another big WC ready to go. 

 

 

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36 minutes ago, HarryPotter said:

Not a fan of dosing H2O2 into displays, best of luck! 

 I'm not seeing much change that I can directly relate to it.   I mean with the big water change I did plus the 6.5 ml of vodka daily what I am seeing looks about right.    

 

Why not a fan of "global" dosing?

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HarryPotter
10 minutes ago, --chris-- said:

 I'm not seeing much change that I can directly relate to it.   I mean with the big water change I did plus the 6.5 ml of vodka daily what I am seeing looks about right.    

 

Why not a fan of "global" dosing?

 

It sterilizes the water column. Kills beneficial bacteria along with the nuisance algae.

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I think my Jebao RW4 is dying...?  Twice in the past three days I found it doing a rapid start/stop (several times a second).   I unplugged it and it started back up normal both times.  

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On 4/3/2018 at 2:42 PM, HarryPotter said:

 

It sterilizes the water column. Kills beneficial bacteria along with the nuisance algae.

I have stopped it for now.  I might do some local stuff during water changes, because that seems to be the most effective way to use it.  But for now, I will rely on WCs, vodka and the new (to me) reactor that just showed up to get things on track.  

 

The corals are looking great, the hammer is looking the best it has looked in a long time and the zoas on a plug that I figured were long gone are opening back up.  

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Week 3(?) of course correction.

 

EDIT: Whoa big change, I didn't notice until I posted the pics and compared them to just 7 days ago!  Whoa!  On the right track!  

 

Included is a pic of the elusive knight goby I have had for almost a year and a half yet hardly see. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I lost my Refractrometer (???) which has made doing water changes impossible.  I borrowed one from my dad, but I think it needs to be calibrated because its reading 1.021 s.g. on both the make up and tank water.  

 

Here is a weird one: I changed out the GFO and carbon Saturday night and since then the skimmer has not been skimming.  This concerns me because I have since dosed 16 ml of vodka and still have no skimmate/bubbles in the skimmer.  

 

Any ideas?  

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HarryPotter
26 minutes ago, --chris-- said:

I lost my Refractrometer (???) which has made doing water changes impossible.  I borrowed one from my dad, but I think it needs to be calibrated because its reading 1.021 s.g. on both the make up and tank water.  

 

Here is a weird one: I changed out the GFO and carbon Saturday night and since then the skimmer has not been skimming.  This concerns me because I have since dosed 16 ml of vodka and still have no skimmate/bubbles in the skimmer.  

 

Any ideas?  

 

In a pinch you can calibrate it with fresh water, preferably rodi.

 

 Chemical media stinks IMO- it slowly weakens until you put In new media, when it absorbs all the nutrient and can cause RTN ?. You have high phosphate?

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I measure P04 at near zero but I have one spot of algae that is still growing slowly and has a green tint to it...so there must be some left.  

 

I didn't think calibrating with zero tds worked well, doesn't it need a "high" range fluid (like 35ppt cal fluid) to be spot on?  Either way, moot point...I ordered some cal fluid and it will be here Wednesday.  

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HarryPotter
1 hour ago, --chris-- said:

I measure P04 at near zero but I have one spot of algae that is still growing slowly and has a green tint to it...so there must be some left.  

 

I didn't think calibrating with zero tds worked well, doesn't it need a "high" range fluid (like 35ppt cal fluid) to be spot on?  Either way, moot point...I ordered some cal fluid and it will be here Wednesday.  

 

Light defraction is linear. In a perfect world a calibration at 0 would be just as good as a calibration at 35. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
--chris--

The algae is coming off from the rocks in clumps now when i siphon out the water.  Changed another 15 gallons today, refreshed gfo, dosed the vodka, scrubed glass then wiped clean.   

 

Progress!

 

 

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--chris--

Ahh man those pictures are not good.

 

I am digging out the ol' reliable G5 today....time to see if it still works.  

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  • 4 months later...

My tank took a bit of a beating the last 6 weeks, everything flourished despite the algae.  

 

I traveled, A LOT for work in July and August and then got slammed with my kids school stuff, my wifes school stuff, my studying and catchup work from the travel.  The tank got green, REAL green.

 

I cleaned it up yesterday, and despite ALL of the algae the corals have grown and I have a lot of coraline (I never grow coraline).  

 

All this makes me think my husbandry (or lack of) is best suited for a system with a refugium attached.  I had a larger system (~100 gallons) with a big fuge on it and it was my easiest, lowest maintenance, happiest tank I ever had. 

 

I say all of that because I am seriously looking into drilling this IM tank, and building a basement sump that I can attach my 48*24*12 frag tank too.  Feasibility TBD.... 

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Basement sump is feasible (quite doable actually), but I would be doing it partly for the wrong reason (because I want to!).  I am going to chase down a few more options for the tank as-is and see how they work.

 

First up is turning one of the back AIO chambers into a fuge with chaeto.  I put in order in to @johnmaloney at Reefcleaners for a refreshed CuC and some chaeto, then went to amazon and ordered this light (which will be secured to the outside back of the chamber with the chaeto). 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LX1EO3W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

The second part of this will be either reinstalling the current skimmer, which I feel is undersized or hunting for a larger HOB skimmer.  

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Found a Eshopps 100 HOB skimmer (used this before, loved it), thanks @StevieGF  While not excited about a HOB skimmer due to overflow concerns, I know my last one gave me no trouble like that.  

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