Dawn's pony garden.

[vlangel]

I have switched from reef crystals to Instant Ocean because I do not want coraline algae growing as much, especially on the bare bottom.  I have to dose iron, iodine and magnesium anyway for the macro algaes.

[vlangel]

Changed the scape for easier maintenance.

 

I need to move the objects around to siphon and scrape the floor.  The less on the floor, the easier.

 

The seahorses statue is more subtle now. 😉

[WV Reefer]

5 minutes ago, vlangel said:

Changed the scape for easier maintenance.

 

I need to move the objects around to siphon and scrape the floor.  The less on the floor, the easier.

 

The seahorses statue is more subtle now. 😉

 

I like it!!!! 😃 It’s a piece of art. 

[vlangel]

15 hours ago, WV Reefer said:

 

I like it!!!! 😃 It’s a piece of art. 

Wow, thanks WV, I appreciate the encouragement!

[vlangel]

Samson has been moved into the SH display.  Delilah is not responding to treatment as well as I had hopped.  I may have to try a round of Furan 2 instead. 😕

[debbeach13]

I hope Delilah responds to the next round of treatment. Happy that Samson is doing well enough to be moved. Keep up the good work. 

[vlangel]

9 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

I hope Delilah responds to the next round of treatment. Happy that Samson is doing well enough to be moved. Keep up the good work. 

She is still eating well but her skin is not healing as fast as I would like to see.

[vlangel]

Tonight we went hunting for stray voltage.  I was going to do a WC this morning and I even got shocked touching the wood desk that the sump sits on!  I unplugged each sump item and still got shocked, Uhhg.  I decided to wait until Dave arrived home and have him test it with his volt meter.  It turns out that it was a rio 90 pump that I had in the DT.  I had 3 rio 90s to choose from and the one I used was the bad one.  Its in the garbage and a replacement rio 90 is doing the job.

 

Here is a unique shot of Eve.  She looks a bit sea serpent-ish!

 

[vlangel]

I have noticed an improvement in my drain since I moved the overflow box onto the 30 gallon SH tank.  I could only run the return pump at 50% before it began to run under a syphon and the flushing noise began.  Now I can run the return pump at 100% (although I back it off to 90% because it runs so high on the tank side of the box) but that is helpful with turnover in the seahorse tank, (a little over 13X an hour).  Seahorses can take more but in this size tank they might not have hitches in slower flow which they need if they want to rest.  Maybe I had a clog in the plumbing where I could not see when it was on the 56 gallon tank.  Thats the only reason I can think of for why the drain is running faster but still quiet.  I don't know but I am quite happy about it.  The tank looks really clear and clean too which is great.

[vlangel]

The seahorse garden is making a slight pulsing noise from the drain.  Since it has an overflow box with only a single standpipe, I had to come up with ways to quiet the drain.  I have a reverse durso in the sump and and a hoffer gurgle buster on the standpipe.  If I backed off the pump to 80% power I am pretty sure that would do it.  However I want as much flow through the seahorse tank as possible.  Do you think if I drill more holes in the stand pipe that it would help?

[Subsea]

I drilled holes one at a time until I got it like I wanted.  It was a repetitive process, but it was music to my ears.  

 

Understand this about less noise, IMO, the gurgling & splasing of water into refugium is of significant importance for gas exchange.  Oxygen, carbon dioxide & nitrogen gases all grow coral through gas exchange as described by Dynamic Equilibrium.

 

DOC that are dosed, grow bacteria.  When carbon dioxide combines with water, it initially forms carbonic acid which assist with carbonate alkalinity by dissolving calcium carbonate.  With extra hydrogen molecules from carbonic acid, bicarbonate alkalinity is increased.  During photosynthesis, inorganic nitrogen & inorganic phosphate combine with bicarbonate molecule and form glucose which is organic carbon for the reef.

 

“Nitrogen fixation” is a unique property of Cynobacteria in which free nitrogen gas is initially turned into ammonia then it is assimilated into cyno biomass.  There are thousands of species of Cynobacteria, some of which live in coral biomass as a secondary nitrogen source.  Nitrogen goes the other way in a process called denitrification in which facultative bacteria in low oxygen enviroment reduce NO3 to free nitrogen gas by consuming extra oxygen molecule.  Until oxygen levels are reduced, facultative bacteria assimilate nitrate & phosphate to grow, nutrient recycling.  When those same bacteria are oxygen limited, they will perform reduction chemistry on NO3 molecule to get oxygen and export nitrogen.

[vlangel]

13 hours ago, Subsea said:

I drilled holes one at a time until I got it like I wanted.  It was a repetitive process, but it was music to my ears.  

 

Understand this about less noise, IMO, the gurgling & splasing of water into refugium is of significant importance for gas exchange.  Oxygen, carbon dioxide & nitrogen gases all grow coral through gas exchange as described by Dynamic Equilibrium.

 

DOC that are dosed, grow bacteria.  When carbon dioxide combines with water, it initially forms carbonic acid which assist with carbonate alkalinity by dissolving calcium carbonate.  With extra hydrogen molecules from carbonic acid, bicarbonate alkalinity is increased.  During photosynthesis, inorganic nitrogen & inorganic phosphate combine with bicarbonate molecule and form glucose which is organic carbon for the reef.

 

“Nitrogen fixation” is a unique property of Cynobacteria in which free nitrogen gas is initially turned into ammonia then it is assimilated into cyno biomass.  There are thousands of species of Cynobacteria, some of which live in coral biomass as a secondary nitrogen source.  Nitrogen goes the other way in a process called denitrification in which facultative bacteria in low oxygen enviroment reduce NO3 to free nitrogen gas by consuming extra oxygen molecule.  Until oxygen levels are reduced, facultative bacteria assimilate nitrate & phosphate to grow, nutrient recycling.  When those same bacteria are oxygen limited, they will perform reduction chemistry on NO3 molecule to get oxygen and export nitrogen.

So Patrick, are you saying that the gurgling noise can be a good thing due to the gas exchange?  There is lots of churning water and bubbles in my sump since it is a 10 ft drop to the basement.  

I had read that cyanobacteria could flourish in an ultra low nutrient tank.  Does it utilize free nitrogen gas instead of phosphates and nitrates?  I wished I understood chemistry better, LOL.

[Subsea]

5 hours ago, vlangel said:

So Patrick, are you saying that the gurgling noise can be a good thing due to the gas exchange?  There is lots of churning water and bubbles in my sump since it is a 10 ft drop to the basement.  

I had read that cyanobacteria could flourish in an ultra low nutrient tank.  Does it utilize free nitrogen gas instead of phosphates and nitrates?  I wished I understood chemistry better, LOL.

Cynobacteria gets its nitrogen through “nitrogen fixation” by converting nitrogen gas into nitrate.  Cynobacteria needs to combine with phosphate in the ratio of 30:1.   I consider Cynobacteria as a bioindicator of phosphate and normally recommend the use of phosphate reducing resin/media to remove phosphate from the water column.  However, Cynobacteria mats can cover coral, macro and substrate and dissolve organics to be assimilated in cyno biomass.  Randy Holmes Farley in an article on phosphate, describes how cyno can extract phosphate from substrate high in calcium phosphate, a normal precipitate when using kalk for alkalinity buffering.  

[vlangel]

1 hour ago, Subsea said:

Cynobacteria gets its nitrogen through “nitrogen fixation” by converting nitrogen gas into nitrate.  Cynobacteria needs to combine with phosphate in the ratio of 30:1.   I consider Cynobacteria as a bioindicator of phosphate and normally recommend the use of phosphate reducing resin/media to remove phosphate from the water column.  However, Cynobacteria mats can cover coral, macro and substrate and dissolve organics to be assimilated in cyno biomass.  Randy Holmes Farley in an article on phosphate, describes how cyno can extract phosphate from substrate high in calcium phosphate, a normal precipitate when using kalk for alkalinity buffering.  

 

1 hour ago, Subsea said:

Cynobacteria gets its nitrogen through “nitrogen fixation” by converting nitrogen gas into nitrate.  Cynobacteria needs to combine with phosphate in the ratio of 30:1.   I consider Cynobacteria as a bioindicator of phosphate and normally recommend the use of phosphate reducing resin/media to remove phosphate from the water column.  However, Cynobacteria mats can cover coral, macro and substrate and dissolve organics to be assimilated in cyno biomass.  Randy Holmes Farley in an article on phosphate, describes how cyno can extract phosphate from substrate high in calcium phosphate, a normal precipitate when using kalk for alkalinity buffering.  

Ok, thank you.  I think I understand that.  Is there a ratio of nitrates to phosphates that do not favor cyano but still can grow coral and macro algae?  

[Subsea]

Unfortunately, there is no magic ratio to prevent Cynobacteria.  I provide nitrate > 5 ppm.  This seems to favor all photosynthesis, thus providing competition to cyno.  Low nutrients eliminate some competition thus allowing undesirables to grow.

 

I equate it to my vegetable garden.  I provide nutrients and water to grow desirable but weeds still grow.  Once weeds are removed and plants mature, the desirable plants compete for nutrients & sun thus providing some natural control to weeds.  Think of your ornamental macro and coral colonies in that same way.

[vlangel]

11 hours ago, Subsea said:

Unfortunately, there is no magic ratio to prevent Cynobacteria.  I provide nitrate > 5 ppm.  This seems to favor all photosynthesis, thus providing competition to cyno.  Low nutrients eliminate some competition thus allowing undesirables to grow.

 

I equate it to my vegetable garden.  I provide nutrients and water to grow desirable but weeds still grow.  Once weeds are removed and plants mature, the desirable plants compete for nutrients & sun thus providing some natural control to weeds.  Think of your ornamental macro and coral colonies in that same way.

Excellant analogy.  I totally understand gardens!

[vlangel]

Delilah has joined the herd in the display tank.  It feels good having them all out of HT.  Treating seahorses is rigorous business with changing out 5 gallons minimum water every day and I need to do that with buckets so it's harder on the aging body.

 

I will say that Samson got chummier with Eve during Delilah's absence.  In his case, ' absence made his heart go wander'!😅

[vlangel]

Last night Samson was nestled up to Delilah.  What a playboy!  Fortunately the girls don't seem to mind.

[vlangel]

The seahorse tank just got better.  The return pump in the sump in the basement is a Jabao 6000.  Its an adjustable flow DC pump with a feed mode.  That is a nice feature now that the ponies are in their own tank, except that I had to run down the basement steps to push the button. 

 

I decided to remedy that by moving the controller upstairs via the hole drilled in the floor for the plumbing.  I could not squeeze the connector end through the hole with the tubing however.  I started to use a dremel tool to make the hole bigger but it quickly became obvious that a dremel was inadequate for the job.  The next option was to take the plumbing apart and thread the receptacle from the pump through the hole first.  While I had the plumbing apart I decided to do away with the multiple elbows left over from days gone by when the sump was under the cabinet.  I even already had flex tubing so it was a no brainer.  It looks better, and I am able to run the jabao at 100% instead of 90% which makes me happy.  The drain is nice and quiet so its all good.

 

Now I can just dump the thawed mysis in the tank and activate the feed mode with just a push of a button.  All the ponies take notice because the tank is smaller and they clean up the mysis pretty effectively in the 10 minutes they are allotted.  It is so easy and I love it.

[Subsea]

7 hours ago, vlangel said:

The seahorse tank just got better.  The return pump in the sump in the basement is a Jabao 6000.  Its an adjustable flow DC pump with a feed mode.  That is a nice feature now that the ponies are in their own tank, except that I had to run down the basement steps to push the button. 

 

I decided to remedy that by moving the controller upstairs via the hole drilled in the floor for the plumbing.  I could not squeeze the connector end through the hole with the tubing however.  I started to use a dremel tool to make the hole bigger but it quickly became obvious that a dremel was inadequate for the job.  The next option was to take the plumbing apart and thread the receptacle from the pump through the hole first.  While I had the plumbing apart I decided to do away with the multiple elbows left over from days gone by when the sump was under the cabinet.  I even already had flex tubing so it was a no brainer.  It looks better, and I am able to run the jabao at 100% instead of 90% which makes me happy.  The drain is nice and quiet so its all good.

 

Now I can just dump the thawed mysis in the tank and activate the feed mode with just a push of a button.  All the ponies take notice because the tank is smaller and they clean up the mysis pretty effectively in the 10 minutes they are allotted.  It is so easy and I love it.

Sounds like progress.  Multiple stair climbing never worked out for me.  As I read your post, it became obvious to me, you are totally & hopelessly an addicted reefer.  Making holes in the walls & ceilings to control pumps.  Kudos to you.

 

You should know that  I am in Greensburg looking at a fire place burning wood in my brothers house.  Yesterday, we played tourist in Pittsburg.  The last place stopped was Whorley fish market.  I have been in many big fish markets, this one is “top of the line”.  Instead of black mussels for my reef tanks, I used them to make a stock for a fish & shrimp Courtbuillion.  

[vlangel]

O wow Patrick, how long are you going to be in the Pittsburgh area?  We could have met for lunch.  Actually anytime you are here we have a nice spare room that we built for Dave's mom when she was living and you are welcome to stay with us.

 

Pittsburgh is a cool city.  Did you ride one of the inclines?  They are unique and its a beautiful view of the city.

[vlangel]

Yes I am addicted but I thought about drilling those holes in the livingroom floor for 15 years before I finally did it!  Old age finally forced the issue and all the WCs seahorses need.

[dpoltsdsu]

That should make feeding waaaaayyy easier

[vlangel]

17 minutes ago, dpoltsdsu said:

That should make feeding waaaaayyy easier

Yes sir it sure does.  And anything that can make seahorses easier is worthwhile, ha ha!

[vlangel]

I always wondered why long time, die hard seahorses keepers did not do more with their seahorses tanks.  I am finally starting to get it.

 

The more stuff, (rock, sand, coral or macro algaes) the more chance debris/detritus are going to collect somewhere that goes un-noticed.  If it does not go un-noticed, then the hobbyist is doing such extreme husbandry that it's not sustainable by most folks for the long haul and the ponies get sick or the hobbyist burns out.  Those who have done this a long time have learned that: either through listening to the advise of long term experienced seahorses keepers...or the hard way like me!  I just couldn't seem to give up on keeping a display reef for my ponies, thinking I could do the husbandry necessary.  Well, I am here to say, that for most people keeping a simpler seahorses display is the best way to go.

 

My ponies actually seem healthier and happier.  They like eating out of the water column more than using a feeding dish.

 

The bb is so much more husbandry friendly and it's so easy to clean up after them.  I just blow it all into a corner and suck it out with a siphon hose every other day.  It's shocking how much wastes there is in only 2 days!

 

Anyway, maybe I can save some of you noobie seahorses keepers the same mistakes I learned.

 

Simple does not have to be ugly.  I am learning to like the simplistic look of my tank.