Jump to content
Cultivated Reef

Wet & Salty


Subsea

Recommended Posts

In time for Christmas.  

 

120G new build.  

 

Substrate came from 150G tank stored under the “old oak tree”.   Now that I have added salt, the organics are bubbling up from the sandbed.   With respect to the sandbed, I played copy cat with PaulB using a reverse flow undergravel sandbed composed of mixed grade aroggonite. It worked for him for 44  years and I know success when I see it.  So, I already told Paul that I was going to take the credit but any “old school” cichlid keeper already knows this.  Instead of gravity allowing detritus to settle into the depths of the bed, the reverse flow keeps everything aerobic and keeps detritus near the surface for the janitors to recycle.  When Paul did his substrate, he used dolomite, because that is what was available then.  I use aroggonite, which dissolves at a higher pH for alkalinity buffering and trace mineral addition.

 

I have already added 20ml of ammonia to feed the bugs.  As soon as salinity stabilizes, I will add

 

https://www.tlc-products.com/startsmart-complete/

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

  • Like 4
Link to comment

@Subsea, you have some of the most interesting setups on here, and very natural process oriented.  So what you're using with this is the good ol' under gravel intake?  By reversing the flow, instead of drawing from under gravel, you're supplying under gravel?  This is very neat idea to keep detritus build-up to the minimal.  And as you had noted the benefits may be two-folds, in that having water passing through the aragonite bed at all time, has the potential to continually dissolve additional Ca and carbonate back into the system.  To this last point, wouldn't it work better when pH is lower (night time)?  Isn't that why we inject CO2 to Ca reactor, to create slight acidic condition?  Or was your "dissolves at a higher pH" is more in reference between dolomite vs aragonite? 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment

The reference to dissolving at a higher pH was the comparison between Dolomite and aroggonite.  The fact that when pH drops during lights out, alkalinity buffering and trace mineral addition happen automatically with no equipment to fail.  This is Dynamic Equilibrium at its best.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
1 hour ago, micoastreefing said:

@Subsea, you have some of the most interesting setups on here, and very natural process oriented.  So what you're using with this is the good ol' under gravel intake?  By reversing the flow, instead of drawing from under gravel, you're supplying under gravel?  This is very neat idea to keep detritus build-up to the minimal.  And as you had noted the benefits may be two-folds, in that having water passing through the aragonite bed at all time, has the potential to continually dissolve additional Ca and carbonate back into the system.  To this last point, wouldn't it work better when pH is lower (night time)?  Isn't that why we inject CO2 to Ca reactor, to create slight acidic condition?  Or was your "dissolves at a higher pH" is more in reference between dolomite vs aragonite? 

 

Thank you for the compliment.  I know that I march to a differrent drummer.  When I worked in the North Sea on a 28 day on 28 day off work schedule, I designed my 1500G extended system to feed itself.  To do that, requires systems to be designed for natural filtration by recycling nutrients thereby producing live foods.

Link to comment
3 hours ago, micoastreefing said:

@Subsea, you have some of the most interesting setups on here, and very natural process oriented.  So what you're using with this is the good ol' under gravel intake?  By reversing the flow, instead of drawing from under gravel, you're supplying under gravel?  This is very neat idea to keep detritus build-up to the minimal.  And as you had noted the benefits may be two-folds, in that having water passing through the aragonite bed at all time, has the potential to continually dissolve additional Ca and carbonate back into the system.  To this last point, wouldn't it work better when pH is lower (night time)?  Isn't that why we inject CO2 to Ca reactor, to create slight acidic condition?  Or was your "dissolves at a higher pH" is more in reference between dolomite vs aragonite? 

 

Micoas,

In a separate system, which is a tumble culture of dragons breath, I will build a calcium reactor to dose carbon and calcium 24/7.

 

I will most likely start the calcium reactor on this system in January.

 

A major shift in my biological filtration will be to include cryptic sponges in 40G unlit refugium with a slow circulation/return thru sump/refugium of 200 GPHr.  If you want details on why cryptic sponges, read Steve Tyree books on sponges.  I will sum it up this way, algae consume inorganic nutrients, algae produce glucose which is a carbon source using photosynthesis in a process discribed as the “nitrogen pump” for “planet earth”, algae produce DOC which can become a problem in a reef tank.   Cryptic sponges consume DOC and produce DIC & Marine Snow, both of which are nutrients for coral.  The loop feeds itself.

 

Cryptic sponges are the third leg in my biological filtration:  bacteria, algae, sponges.  Coral possesses two of those three components, bacteria and algae.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

I continue dosing 20 ml of ammonia each day.  To that end, I have added four differrent macro algae’s that prefer ammonia to nitrate.  I have also added two hardy corals, GSP and Green Sinularia.  Also added one Green Flower Anemone.

 

In analyzing the light, I need more blue and will duplicate what I did on Jaubert Plenum.

 

 

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment

I have coupled my 75G Jaubert Plenum & 30G EcoSystem Mud refugium to my 120G new build with 40G cryptic refugium at a flow rate of 250 GPHr.  This allows nutrients in new build sand bed to be processed by a 25 year old system while 25 year old system feeds micros fauna and fana that are alive in water colum.  This includes more diverse bacteria than nitrification & denitrification bacteria.

 

Third picture shows very coarse matrix from 25 year old refugium that was crawling with micro stars and large amphipods.  I say seed the sandbed with janitors.

 

 

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment

It is synthetic Tonga Branch.  I choose not to bleach it clean.  Instead, Urchins and  Emerald Crabs will eat it clean.  When I got this rock from an Aggie friend, we talked about finding red zoas and simulating apples on the “Tree of Life” in the “Garden of Eden”.

image.jpg

image.jpg

Link to comment

So, it has been three weeks since wet and salty.

 

Things added

25 lbs of fluorite substrate for iron

Caulerpa Paspoides rock

Sargassium Bush

GSP Hanging bracket 

Green Sinularia frag 

Large Sinularia “Mother Ship”

3 Rock Anemone

Three species of copepods.

 

https://www.algaebarn.com/product/5280pods/

 

https://www.chewy.com/seachem-flourite-planted-aquarium/dp/131171?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=f&utm_content=Seachem&utm_term=&gclid=Cj0KCQiAvrfSBRC2ARIsAFumcm8egd8R09vVkBpJi5ylX0OO28bmxRct0jvLeabj3MUun2FCcL3SszUaAos5EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

 

 

 

image.jpg

image.jpg

Link to comment

Back to the tank.  It is three weeks to the day that I got it wet and salty.

 

yesterday, I got enough snails and crabs to clean 1000G of tank.  They all went into this 120G new build.

 

With no fish, copepods are visible all over the glass.

 

Rock with cryptic sponges is growing more sponges.  Live rock with GHA that is in refugium with urchin and Emerald Crab is losing all its hair.

 

I have seeded bristle worms from other tanks into reverse flow sandbed.

 

Lights just on.

 

 

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Thank you for the compliment.   While I have actually done some of the research testing for BML refugium fixtures, these Chinese fixtures, IMO, are superior.  For certain, at $20 per foot compared to $80 per foot, they work for my pocket book. These fixtures come in one color which is about 12,000 kelvin and they operate underwater, but are cautioned to not regularly be run that way.

Link to comment

In three days, this tank is one month aged.  For certain, most hobbiest don’t have six other tanks inside and three Rubbermade tanks buried in ground outside to assist with cycle.  This has allowed me to jump start a system with unwashed aroggonite and diver collected live rock.

 

During the first week.

I first added bacteria cultures.

I added established macro algae rocks of Caulerpa Paspodies and hangings brackets with Red Grapes, Bortacladia.

 

second week

Seeded 5 differrent cultures of copepods in 40G cryptic refugium.

Seeded cryptic sponges in unlit refugium with unattractive live rock with GHA and Urchins munching.

Seeded bristle worms, micro stars and amphipods using Gulf Live Rock covered in yellow ball sponges and orange/red bryozoans.

 

week three

added 300 Golden Astrae Snails and 100 Cerith Snails

added two fish:  Pygma Angel from the Caribbean and tank raised Banner Cardinal, that needs to be with a school of his kind.

 

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Large green sinularia has been in my possession for almost 30 years.  I never pruned because the color would not sell it.  So, it got big for my 25 year old 75G Jaubert Plenum.  In this 120G, it is impressive but does not dominate.  I like my synthetic Tonga Tree.  It rocks.

 

The bright green sinularia has a story.  Thirty years ago, a LFS owner/friend smuggled this bright green softie in from Costa RICO.  He propagated it.  I bought a frag the size of my thumbnail for $50 and that was 30 years ago.  I have fragged this cultivar into a half dozen mother colonies to be fragged in the future.

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

Link to comment

Pig Me does not want his picture taken.  He is exploring his new world.  Neurotic Banner has settled in to being hypnotic under the spell of long spine urchin.

image.jpg

image.jpg

28EA91CA-1B81-46CD-BFD7-8AF912B38DF3.jpeg

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Green Sinularia leather behind Tonga Tree

 

Tank continues to mature.  Long spine urchin was removed to graze on hair algae in outside growout systems.  He was mowing down Red Grapes which were sprouts growing on acrylic bracket.

image.jpg

image.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...