Chris's IM30 - Cheap camera experiment

[--chris--]

Abandoned the skimmer as of today. This tuesday would have been a month of running it.

 

Microbubbles never went away, only improved marginally about 2 weeks in then stayed the same. Plus the added noise in the living room was distracting.

 

So from this point forward ill need to rely on water changes which should be fine.

 

I picked up coral from a friend and got back the first coral i ever baught (my wife picked it out in 2010). Also got some kedd reds, green sinularia, fire and ice and some red shrooms.

 

Fish are doing well, eating like pigs but not bonding. They are still picking at each other occasionally...so this may not end well. We will see...

[--chris--]

Bad news:

 

Our Black Ice occy has ceased to exist. The other clown looks like it will succumb to whatever got the first one. Its not ich, its not a parasite as far as I can tell. Their slime coats went crazy and they got covered in a thin white film, their fins clamped down, then they lost their ability to maintain stability (float bladder infection?) then death.

 

This has to be something I did, so I have spent some time going over all recent changes:

 

On 11/5:

• added 2 tbsp of GFO to a filter bag
• added 4 tbsp of carbon to a second filter bag

On 11/3:

• removed skimmer

General observations

• Top off water has not changed, its the same batch that I made when I setup the tank.
• Top off vessel is the same.
• We did not lose power.
• Water params are spot on and as far as I can tell do not vary much throughout the day (1-2 F. temp swing)
• Coral are unaffected
• Algae growth has taken off (GHA or byropsis, I am uncertain which at this point because it just started)
• Photo period is unchanged

 

I see in my last post I made note of how much fighting they were doing, that could be a factor. They were eating well two days ago, so whatever this is progressed quickly.

[RIP Sebastian]

Bad news:

 

Our Black Ice occy has ceased to exist. The other clown looks like it will succumb to whatever got the first one. Its not ich, its not a parasite as far as I can tell. Their slime coats went crazy and they got covered in a thin white film, their fins clamped down, then they lost their ability to maintain stability (float bladder infection?) then death.

 

This has to be something I did, so I have spent some time going over all recent changes:

 

On 11/5:

• added 2 tbsp of GFO to a filter bag
• added 4 tbsp of carbon to a second filter bag

On 11/3:

• removed skimmer

General observations

• Top off water has not changed, its the same batch that I made when I setup the tank.
• Top off vessel is the same.
• We did not lose power.
• Water params are spot on and as far as I can tell do not vary much throughout the day (1-2 F. temp swing)
• Coral are unaffected
• Algae growth has taken off (GHA or byropsis, I am uncertain which at this point because it just started)
• Photo period is unchanged

I see in my last post I made note of how much fighting they were doing, that could be a factor. They were eating well two days ago, so whatever this is progressed quickly.

Check your params. The only thing I can think of is Brooknyella or your salinity is too low. Try a freshwater dip. Match temp and pH (to some extent) and put him/her in for 5-10 minutes.

 

Nick

[--chris--]

Just googled Brooklynella, sounds very similiar to what I observed.

 

I am struggling to figure out what the change agent was in this situation. My 4 year old just about ignore the tank now and it has the glass top on it that comes with it. As was stated before the coral still look good, but I have noticed an increase in algae (from none to some).

 

The other clown also did not make the night. He was gone in the morning. Both are buried by our weiner dog in the yard.

[--chris--]

Tank continues to trend south. Coral are still looking good but algae (cyano and GHA) have taken off. Tonight starts the new daily ritual of changing 2-3 gallons until things return to beautiful/normal.

 

This has been the strangest three weeks with any reef tank I have had. Like a switch was thrown, fish died, algae blew up, water got cloudy...I have had more bad luck with this tank than I have had with all other reefs spread of 8 years!

 

Equipment update:

 

The light is starting to fail, more specifically the potentiometers in the light are failing. The blues/whites will vary in intensity and flicker randomly. So that will need to be addressed....

 

I also received my aqualifter and float switch for ATO, but misplaced all of my airline tubing. New arline tubing should be here tomorrow, then I will have the ATO setup (finally!).

[--chris--]

Two 3 gallon WC's performed this weekend, another setup for tonight. The water is losing its cloudy look and the corals appear to like it (although they didn't look bad prior).

[--chris--]

I discovered today that my make up water has .5 to 1.0 ammonia levels. Tested step by step back to rodi and determined the 5 gallon bucket i am mixing water in must be leaching something because the water barrel that hilds all the fresh before i use it in the 5 gallon bucket is clear of amm and nitrate.

 

This explains why the tank is only looking worse with every water change inatead of better....

 

So new plan is replace 5 gallon bucket with a new rubber made garbage can, fit it with a uniseal to drain it and make a stand to put it above my fresh water barrel.

 

Ugh!!!! Coral are still looking good but algae has really exploded with the bad water. Pics to come...

[teenyreef]

Wow, that really sucks, I mean, who checks their bucket for ammonia? Good thing you caught it. What kind of bucket is it?

[--chris--]

Its an old one that i thought i had used previously...but maybe it had an alternate purpse since then that made it do whatever its doing now.

 

To be specific, its a bucket given to me thats all black and probably as old as I.

[Vwcrackerjack]

Crap man. Sounds like my black cloud of reef luck spread over to you too. Keep us posted.

[teenyreef]

Crap man. Sounds like my black cloud of reef luck spread over to you too. Keep us posted.

Yeah, maybe it's time to replace it, sounds like it's had a long and honorable service

[--chris--]

Ordered the uniseal. I have a 52 gallon potable water container I bought for $20 from a "Y2K" nut that swore the world was ending. When it didn't he emptied the barrel and held onto it until 4 years ago. He said it was something like $300 new but could not find anyone willing to pay more than $20 for it on craigslist lol.

 

I will be drilling that, installing the uniseal then using the existing bulkhead in the top where I will drill a hole for the RO water line. Then build a wood frame to support it above my water barrel and use gravity (+ a ball valve) to drain it into my buckets for water changes. Should great increase capacity and lower the amount of time required to mix water. This is all going to take some time so until then, yes I need a new mixing bucket.

[vlangel]

I am very sorry to read about your recent tank troubles. Hopefully the new potable water container will fix things. It sounds like a nice mixing station.

[--chris--]

Quick update:

 

The tanks algae problem appears to be under control and receding since I stopped doing WC's with the "bad" bucket. I have all the parts and tools needed to setup the new mixing vessel, but I need to find time to build a stand to put it on (since it will gravity drain into buckets to do WC's).

 

Also during routine inspection last week I noticed I have numerous spots of pink coraline all over the rock and on some of the sand! I take this as a great sign! Another month or so and I will start looking at fish again.

[teenyreef]

Glad to hear things are going better now!

[--chris--]

Thank teeny! I might have found a great wooden stand for the mixing barrel, which will speed up the project.

 

Also I need to purchase more DI already....this new houses water is pretty rough. TDS is creeping up towards 5-6 already.

[--chris--]

Got a good deal on a Kessil a150 blue, baught a new gooseneck and might be going fish shopping tomorrow!

 

Also picked up the last of the parts for the new mixing barrel, now that the holidays are done i might actually finish it.

[--chris--]

Remember how I said my dad got me into reefing (he had a 180 for about 10 years in the 80's and 90's)? Well he decided to take it upon himself and help populate my tank. I received a pair of knight gobies yesterday, already acclimated from brackish to SW. They went in last night, swam around and appeared to be active and healthy.

 

I have never had a knight goby, he said he remembers his pair be "quirky" and "oddballs". Sounds like a good fit here.

 

He said he almost picked up some silver scats for me but then remembered this is a "nano" (thank god lol). MY 4 year old seen then and got very excited, so hopefully they are here to stay.

[Newstead]

Glad things are turning around for your tank. Would love to see a pic of your water changing station when you have it up and running.

[--chris--]

Glad things are turning around for your tank. Would love to see a pic of your water changing station when you have it up and running.

 

FW barrel on the bottom, SW barrel on top. Ro/Di is out of frame to the right (you can see the tiny ro hose coming into the bottom if you look hard enough). I have a pump in the FW attached to that hose that moves water either into the SW barrel or a jug for the ATO.

 

Once in the SW barrel I have a heater and a PH for mixing. 1" uniseal on the bottom with a ball valve for emptying.

 

Only thing easier would be plumbing it so that it show water up stairs for me.

[--chris--]

These guys are ACTIVE! Wow i get tired watching them. I got used to clowns.

[--chris--]

Also forgot to mention I picked up a Jebao rw-4 last week. Wow these little pumps are amazing! They are 90% as good as the MP10 I had on my last tank for 1/6th the cost. Really happy with that purchase!

[--chris--]

I received my Kessil a150 got it mounted and running last night. I love the color!

 

I dont like the fan noise. Its not noisy, but there is a very slight fan noise that can be heard if the TV is off or quiet. Kind of a bummer. I took the light apart and inspected then cleaned it...no difference. I considered buying a replacement fan, but one of the screws holding it down has epoxy on it...increasing the chances i will break tje PCM during the fan swap.

 

Its not terrible, but its now the noisest part of the tank.

 

Pics later

[--chris--]

Lets see how sharing from my phone goes...

 

My very social knight goby hoping for food.

 

[--chris--]

Our new guy (since two days ago), bi-color blenny.