Nic’s Waterbox 35.2 Zeovit

[Nic]

It was a great vacation. My anguish at losing a couple of acros to something preventable was ALMOST offset by just how amused I was at how happy the LPS were. Of course, they’re closed up and pissed now but man were they looking good. 

[Nic]

Did a full round of tests with Hanna and I definitely think it was the nitrate fluctuation due to the reactor not working properly.

 

Ph: 8.3
dkh: 7.1
Nitrate: 4.51
phosohate: 0.04
calcium: 464

[Nic]

FTS 08/01/22

 

 

Things are going smoothly again after a potentially disastrous hiccup with my Hydros controller. I updated the firmware on it while out of the house and it set every piece of equipment to “override on,” which led to my half full ATO emptying into the tank and crashing the salinity (35 down to 30). Luckily my wife was home and saw it happening. Spent the last week increasing salinity back to 35 and luckily, it seems only one single acro has died. There are a couple of others that showed some stress, including a bit of tissue loss on the tips but they’re already looking quite a bit better. 
 

Also, I cleaned the powerhead just prior to this picture so it kicked a bit of detritus off the rock when I turned it back on. 
 

The only other bit of bad luck was that my large Elegance Coral stung and ate our small Mystery Wrasse, which was a bit heartbreaking to discover. 
 

Hammer Coral has split off a third head, Bernardopora is shooting up a branch and encrusting onto the rock and the ORA Miami Orchid acro has started shooting out a couple of branches. 

[Nic]

Forgot to add, I recently purchased a 3d printed attachment for my skimmer (Tunze Comline DOC 9004) that will allow me to attach a co2 scrubber. Currently, my ph swings from a low of approximately 7.6 at night to 8.2 in the daytime. Hoping to narrow that swing down considerably and increase the peak to at least 8.3. 
 

Using a BRS co2 reactor and the Two Little Fishies media that changes colors. Anyone have any experience with the efficacy of co2 scrubbers? Everything I’ve read says they are fairly effective. 
 

I realized I had a co2 saturation issue when we went on vacation. After two days of no one in the house the ph peaked at 8.5 and only dropped to 8.0 at night. 

[Nic]

FTS 08/05/22

 

Things are going well for the most part. Did lose a couple of corals to the firmware update issue but things have stabilized and the casualty count was minimal (thank goodness). Still having some minor issues with algae growing on the rocks. Using a turkey baster to keep it at bay. 
 

Added a beautiful new addition. He’s eating flake and Arcti-pods. 
 

Co2 scrubber attachment for my skimmer should be here tomorrow though I’ve been using an Aquavitro product called “Balance” that has done a fantastic job increasing my PH without also increasing alkalinity. I dose a capful throughout the day (usually split into three separate doses equating to a capful in total). This has managed to bring my PH to a peak of 8.39 and a low of 7.9 at night. I’m aiming for a peak of 8.39 and a low of 8.1 at night which I’m hoping the scrubber will help achieve. 

[DevilDuck]

Wow sorry to hear about the Hydros ATO issue! I have Hydros ATO as back up in case the Tunze gives out unexpectedly. Now I'm wondering if I should keep the ATO and heater systems separate from the Hydros.

 

Your tank is still looking great despite the mishap! 

[Nic]

58 minutes ago, DevilDuck said:

Wow sorry to hear about the Hydros ATO issue! I have Hydros ATO as back up in case the Tunze gives out unexpectedly. Now I'm wondering if I should keep the ATO and heater systems separate from the Hydros.

 

Your tank is still looking great despite the mishap! 

The Hydros has been great except for that one mishap and after getting on the r2r forums, it’s common knowledge (apparently) that you shouldn’t update firmware if you aren’t present in the room with the controller. every other experience with the Hydros thus far has been great. 
 

I appreciate the kind words! Other than an enduring dino/diatom issue, things have gone (fairly) smoothly. I’ve tried raising the temp, turning off white lights, using a UV sterilizer to no avail thus far. I’m hoping it might just be that my DI resin might be spent and silicates are getting into the water. I’ve got some new RO/DI cartridges on the way. Apparently you can’t go solely off TDS meter to know when RO/DI is spent as silicates don’t show up as TDS. Hoping that will solve it because it is certainly causing some irritation to my corals. 

[DevilDuck]

I fought dinos for a while too, I finally gave in and used Fauna Marin DIno-X. So far so good and they haven't returned.

 

[Nic]

Three days blackout, dosing hydrogen peroxide 1ml/10 gallons twice a day and turned the temperature up to 83 and we are finally dino free. It has been two full photoperiods since I turned the lights on and not a hint of dinos anywhere (Thank God 🙏)

 

 

Lost a couple of acros that were already fairly stressed because of the firmware update mishap but the vast majority came out of it just fine it seems. 

[Nic]

Tank is chugging along. My Emerald Crab ate my prettiest Torch Coral. One day it was huge and fluffy, the next day I caught him ripping polyps out toward the end of what was left. Almost evicted him. 
 

finally cranked my Sentia doser pumps up. Only dosing Aquavitro Balance right now to help maintain ph. 

[Nic]

It’s been a while. Went through some real hardships and lost some tank inhabitants but the past couple of months have been enormously stable. Did away with the zeovit and have really just focused on water changes weekly and a protein skimmer for nutrient export. Only have a couple of acros and sps at the moment but adding a few more later this week. 
 

Finally happy and content with the tank. Only took seven months. 😅

 

[debbeach13]

Hi Nic. Glad, you and the tank are both chugging along. The ups and downs of the first-year push many right out of the hobby. Do you just love dumping out that cup of dirty water from the skimmer? 

[ramona]

How do you like the return pump? Can you hear it? I have the same tank with sicce silent 1.5 as return pump and makes a humming noise I don't like. 

 

Do you have any updates on this tank?