Kinda's Large Tank Adventure (LTA)

[seabass]

42 minutes ago, Kindanewtothis said:

From what I understand, water changes replenish many elements that I would have to dose.

Just keep in mind that a 10% water change will replenish a relatively small portion of the consumed elements, which usually isn't enough to replenish significant consumption of an element.

 

For example:

If calcium was originally 400ppm (and your water change water is 400ppm), but subsequently your reef has consumed 20ppm of calcium (so that the current level is now 380ppm).  A 10% water change will result in 90% at 380ppm and 10% at 400ppm, or:

(0.90 * 380ppm) + (0.10 * 400ppm) = 382ppm

So, in this example, a 10% water change would replenish just 2ppm of calcium.

[Kindanewtothis]

6 minutes ago, seabass said:

Just keep in mind that a 10% water change will replenish 10% of the consumed elements, which usually isn't enough to replenish significant consumption of an element.

 

For example:

If calcium was originally 400ppm (and your water change water is 400ppm), but subsequently your reef has consumed 20ppm of calcium (so that the current level is now 380ppm).  A 10% water change will result in 90% at 380ppm and 10% at 400ppm, or:

(0.90 * 380ppm) + (0.10 * 400ppm) = 382ppm

So, in this example, a 10% water change would replenish just 2ppm of calcium.

I understand and I'm dosing reef fusion 1 for calcium ( and reef fusion 2 and Red sea Magnesium). But aren't there other elements?

 

This math also applies to the Po4 reduction. I was at 0.03 after water change so I was somewhere around 0.0333 before. That's not much phosphate down the drain no? 

 

So what now? I keep testing and only do water change when needed (meaning bigger water change)?

[seabass]

8 minutes ago, Kindanewtothis said:

But aren't there other elements?

There are other elements (with lower consumption rates) which water changes can help to maintain.

 

9 minutes ago, Kindanewtothis said:

This math also applies to the Po4 reduction. I was at 0.03 after water change so I was somewhere around 0.0333 before. That's not much phosphate down the drain no? 

Agreed.

 

13 minutes ago, Kindanewtothis said:

So what now? I keep testing and only do water change when needed (meaning bigger water change)?

You should be able to predict the test results before you test.  If you can't, you might need to test more frequently.  IMO, partial water changes are more effective at exporting nutrients than replenishing them.

 

My recommendation for water changes is to replace the water removed during maintenance.  Then, if your tank requires additional nutrient export, you can change out more water.  Then dose when needed.

 

I believe that you've seen my article:

Water Parameters: What to Test, and When!

[Kindanewtothis]

1 minute ago, seabass said:

I believe that you've seen my article:

Water Parameters: What to Test, and When!

I did, great work!

 

2 minutes ago, seabass said:

If you can't, you might need to test more frequently.  

I'm getting there! 

 

 

I have a sump maintenance question. Basically how to you clean it because vaccum won't work of course since it's on the ground?

[seabass]

1 minute ago, Kindanewtothis said:

I have a sump maintenance question. Basically how to you clean it because vaccum won't work of course since it's on the ground?

That can be a problem, as siphons are usually of limited value when the sump is on the floor.  I typically use a small powerhead (attached to some tubing) to push water out of the sump into a bucket sitting next to the sump.

[mcarroll]

10 hours ago, Kindanewtothis said:

This math also applies to the Po4 reduction. I was at 0.03 after water change so I was somewhere around 0.0333 before. That's not much phosphate down the drain no? 

No.

 

At 0.03 ppm, you are probably at the bottom end of your test kit's ability.  

 

Differentiating between a whole number at this level and 0.00  would be beyond the capability of the test kit.  (Check if your kit states its precision+accuracy in the manual.)

 

10 hours ago, Kindanewtothis said:

So what now? I keep testing and only do water change when needed (meaning bigger water change)?

As long as your PO4 level remains down in the basement, you should be dosing up to 0.05 ppm EVERY DAY (as needed) and/or not doing water changes....whatever it takes to establish a healthy baseline.

 

≥0.05 ppm PO4; ≥5.0 ppm NO3.

 

HIGHER levels than this are fine.  Lower levels are not.  (at least not until after the tank matures A LOT)

 

9 hours ago, Kindanewtothis said:

I have a sump maintenance question. Basically how to you clean it because vaccum won't work of course since it's on the ground?

A siphon will work, but only down to the level of the water in your sump....so you only have a short amount of time to work.  Use an airline tube for the siphoning....or the smallest diameter tube you can find.

 

My suggestion would be to make the sump more mess-proof so that detritus simply recirculates up to the display (where corals can eat it) and you don't have to worry about it.  That's my take on it.

 

 

[Kindanewtothis]

Po4 0.07 without any more dosing.

[seabass]

Even with the same sample, Hanna's phosphate test results can fluctuate by several hundreds of a ppm.  Consider it a ballpark and not a definite value.  So don't be too concerned if you see some unexplained results.

[Kindanewtothis]

5 minutes ago, seabass said:

Even with the same sample, Hanna's phosphate test results can fluctuate by several hundreds of a ppm.  Consider it a ballpark and not a definite value.  So don't be too concerned if you see some unexplained results.

No I get it, precision is not that high (0.04) but that result makes sens since I was at 0 04 according to the checker last time and dosed about 10ml of NeoPhos at that time. Plus the feeding since that. 

 

I'm just happy that the ratio with No3 isn't too bad.

 

Goal is to stay under 0.10 (approx), I had GHA around 0.15 in the 50g but maybe the coral beauty would be glad to have more stuff to nip on.

[Kindanewtothis]

Needed more flow since the LTA/sicce xtream incident...

 

Sold my PS5...

[Kindanewtothis]

A Nero 5 anemone guard doesn't seems to be something available in Canada... 

 

Shipping cost from the US is more expensive than the guard...

[seabass]

Maybe you can find someone to 3D print one for you.

[Kindanewtothis]

7 minutes ago, seabass said:

Maybe you can find someone to 3D print one for you.

Yeah I saw a business in my city who offers the service but I would need the file I suppose?

[seabass]

I imagine that there's one online somewhere.

[Kindanewtothis]

32 minutes ago, seabass said:

I imagine that there's one online somewhere.

Done! 

 

 

[mcarroll]

Seems like you could DIY that with a Cool Whip bowl and a screwdriver.  👍

[Kindanewtothis]

26 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Seems like you could DIY that with a Cool Whip bowl and a screwdriver.  👍

 

[Kindanewtothis]

35 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Seems like you could DIY that with a Cool Whip bowl and a screwdriver.  👍

I cannot imagine I way I'm doing it myself and it doesn't look like a Cool Whip bowl in my tank.

[mcarroll]

Well it's temporary until the anemone puts his foot down, of course.   You belay any photoshoots until then! 😉 

[Kindanewtothis]

11 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

until the anemone puts his foot down, of course.  

Nope, even then I'm not taking that risk. They can be in place for months and then move for some reason. 

 

 

[Kindanewtothis]

Third time today I see the neon goby on the newly arrived coral beauty. The same happened when I got the tang.

 

Regarding the coral beauty, if it could stop harasing the springeri that would be cool... and the tail.of the CB looks back to normal.

 

I was expecting some agression from the yellow tang but except for a few minutes at first it doesn't care at all about the cb. I must say that the cb doesn't approch the veggie clip when there is seaweed available. Is porphyra yezoensis the right type of seaweed?

 

Also, is it available in sativa? (I had to do a seaweed joke...)

 

[Kindanewtothis]

No3 is down to 3.2

 

I don't know about Po4 because I'm out of reagent (was sure I still had a few, order is placed)

 

No water change except maybe a few gallons for maintenance. I have a lot of diatoms on the sand bed where the flow is lower, hoping the Nero 5 will help a little but mostly I also ordered a sillicate blaster DI cartridge.

 

Also bought filter media cups to replace the fliter socks that clog after 7-10 days. Tried to wash them but it clogs back fast. 

 

Need to decide what to use in the media cups. Was thinking about simply filter floss.

[Kindanewtothis]

@Christopher Marks could you switch this journal to the large reef section ? It's now a 120 gallons.

 

Thanks !

[mcarroll]

8 hours ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Also bought filter media cups to replace the fliter socks that clog after 7-10 days. Tried to wash them but it clogs back fast. 

 

Need to decide what to use in the media cups. Was thinking about simply filter floss.

For now I would use nothing...or just a bare cup if the system needs to have SOMETHING in the hole to function properly.

 

I can't think of any good reason for mechanical filtration unless it was micron-level filtration that could prevent algae from spreading so much.  You'd still want to clean it just about every day.

 

7-10 days or anything long enough for the trapped material to start breaking down....at that point the filter becomes pure liability, no benefit.

 

IMO the things you're filtering out with (eg) floss are things that would be better thought of as coral food and left in the tank.  To promote the same thing in my old system, I had a flow pump in the sump to keep detritus afloat – zero maintenance; zero mechanical filtering; well fed corals without manual effort.  (That takes pretty strong flow in the display too, but corals appreciate that, generally speaking.)

 

 

[mcarroll]

I just realized that I haven't seen a full tank shot yet.

 

Can you post an updated full tank shot that also includes lighting and flow sources?  👍