Home Office Shallow Reef

[Staticmoves]

5 hours ago, geekreef_05 said:

Thanks for the advice. 

There are 20 nass snail in there and they definitely help. 

A conch eh? Ive never had one.

 

How big to they get? 

The conch, about 3” plus.

[natalia_la_loca]

nice looking tank!!

 

Fwiw I dose live phyto in my Evo 13.5 and have never seen a speck of cyano in there. I used Tommy’s Phyto for a while and recently switched to a five species blend from Dinkins Aquatic Gardens.

 

Also, if you’re looking for more stability from your heater, you might consider a temperature controller. Zero headache and also a fail safe if the heater dies.

[geekreef_05]

A temp controller is a good idea. Thanks! 

 

If i were slightly more wealthy id have an Apex or full controller module. 

 

I will mull that one over, while eyeing up my pocket book. Haha. 

 

[geekreef_05]

15 hours ago, ml86743 said:

Exactly - It could all be in my head..but at the very least it's good for the inhabitants!  I use "Tommy's Phyto Mix" from BRS.  Seems to be really nice quality and relatively cost effective...for a 14 gallon tank lol. 

Are you turning the skimmer off when dosing/feeding? 

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

Get an inkbird

[natalia_la_loca]

+1 to inkbird. Affordable and lasts for years.

[ml86743]

8 hours ago, geekreef_05 said:

Are you turning the skimmer off when dosing/feeding? 

I'll run the mp 10 for about an hour with the return off, so just display water moving around.   Before work routine lol.  Skimmer goes back on after that. 

[geekreef_05]

I'll have to give that consideration.

 

Means automating my skimmer too, which is on 24/7 currently. 

 

I noticed some people do just leave the skimmer running. 

 

UPDATE: 

Ive identified my algae problem as DINOS. i ordered some Dino X. And have been contemplating upping my UV game.

 

Today 5 fire shrimp went into the aquarium. Hopefully they get good at eating the food that makes it to the sandbed. 

 

My main challenges now are:

(1) Automate brine shrimp feeding 

(2) Automate phyto feeding 

(3) Continue to fight DINOs.  

 

 

NEXT STEPS:

When it comes to automating brine shrimp feeding, i need to satisfy these chromis shocking hunger. They rush me when it's feeding time. If its brine shrimp the clowns and angel have to work hard to get any. And im feeding 5 to 7 times a day. 

 

So for automation im thinking of feeding....

 

...ONCE EVERY HOUR!  

Between 10am and 7pm.

Each feeding wiĺl be 10ml.

 

Thats 10 feedings over 10hrs. Which will mean 100ml/day. Im gonna use a 2250ml container... which just squeeks by at my min automation threshold..providing 22 days of feedings. 

 

The fish have been really snubbing pellet food lately. Hopefully this works. 

 

I will still have a minimal amount of pellets dispensing for the clownfish that eat em and the shrimp. 

[geekreef_05]

I just order the parts needed to make my automated brine shrimp and phyto dispensery. 

 

I have on hand a kamoer dosing pump or two, silicone glue, container i'll use for brine as well as a timer and powerbar. With that in mind i've ordered:

 

1x mini fridge 

10m of dosing line

1x auto stirring plate

1x amazon low power air bubbler that claims to be near silient. 

 

And cheap foam sound panels cause i feel like the room could use it. Its not loud. Im just picky. I'll put them behind stuff and in the stand. 

 

You can probably see where this is going. Its gonna be a DIY to the max project. 

[geekreef_05]

UPDATE:

Parts have arrived to build an auto brine feeding solution and DINOX and MB7 to fight Dinos. After work, i'll get to all this..

 

 

Next Steps:

I'll setup a 5 gal water change to remove dinos manually today. 

 

In the evening i'll start dosing Dinox and Microbacter 7 as well as put pyhto on an automated dosing schedule.

 

Fingers crossed that tames the mane of these wild Dinos. 

 

The other part of this update is to identify two challenges for March.

 

(1) Last night the skimmer waste line clogged again. I turned the skimmer off for the evening and pH plumited to 7.8 from 8.3. 

 

Once the skimmer and co2 scrubber media is out of the equation my pH just drops. To maintain stability that thing needs to be running.

 

And to meet my goal of at least 21 days of automation, i'll need to figure out how it can be solved. Maybe a larger waste line is the solution.

 

(2) My next challenge is auto stirring my dosing containers for Mg, ARF, MB7.  Space in my aquarium cabinet is what im fighting on this one. The spot is not tall enough to place an auto stirrer underneath. And air bubbler on a timer maybe the most practical solution..

 

First, lets see how this Dino battle turns out...

[geekreef_05]

SOUNDPROOFING: 

This i actually installed in the morning before work.

 

Verdict: It works. Probably dropped 10db. The memory foam pad for the skimmers air pump was key. 

 

The noise pads helps a bit too.

 

Now its a near silent in my office. 

 

 

Air Pump in DIY CO2 scrubber. Note under the stand I slide a couple down there too. 

 

Back of aquarium. Between stand and wall..

 

/noise cancelling complete.

[duganderson]

Love this tank!  

[geekreef_05]

7 hours ago, duganderson said:

Love this tank!  

Thanks dude! Still a long long way to go! 

[geekreef_05]

Mini Fridge Modifications: 

 

Setup is almost complete i need to drill one more hole tomorrow.  Wife went to bed and so i cant run the drill again tonight. Forgot i need two for the phyto. One to dose it and one for the bubbler. Silly me. 

 

Fridge Prior to holes: 

 

After holes and mock-up:

 

UPDATE:

Corals:

GSP didnt open today. Could have been last nights pH swing. But also could have been the DINOs. They were covering the frag, looking extra snotty and long and bubbly today.

 

The monti cap actually looks fine. Hm. 

 

Fish: 

They are great. Settled. Everyone eating really well. 

 

DINO BATTLE

So today i completed a 15% water change, attempting to syphon out as many DINOs as possible. I have to say i barely made a dent with manual removal. There is just so much of the stuff. 

 

At 7pm i dosed 5ml of MB7 and set the dosing pump for 5ml a day, in 3 doses of 1.7ml. 

 

Around 8pm i added 20ml of DINO-X as the lights faded for the evening.

 

Carbon has been removed. Skimmer and uv still running. 

 

Lets see what happens.

 

[geekreef_05]

UPDATE! 

DINOX is in there. Usually at this time of day the strands of Dinos are more intense. Only a slight difference today. 

 

But it hasnt quiet yet been 24hrs yet.

 

Check out the horror: 

 

 

 

 

Im wondering if i should up the dose a little. Says it could take upto 10 doses, so i should be patient. 

 

Skimmer is definitely going nuts since dosing DINOX, pulling out alot of darker skim. 

[debbeach13]

I have no experience with Dinox but since it says 

4 hours ago, geekreef_05 said:

Says it could take upto 10 doses, so i should be patient. 

 

[geekreef_05]

Is DINOX working? 

 

Today at 330pm: 

 

 

A little closer..

 

 

maybe more focus... 

 

Hm. 

 

Still full of bubbly nasty Dinos. 

Hard to tell if there's been any change. 

 

 

[geekreef_05]

UPDATE. 

Dosed 20ml of DINO-X. Lets see what tomorrow brings. Alot of people say day 4 is a key day to see change. Its only day 2 for me.

 

 

Ive almost finished the DIY Brine and phyto feeding setup. Everything is built. I just need to hook it all up.

 

I added soundproofing inside the fridge, including a mouspad on the bottom. Since the auto stirrer will be on all day in my office, i wanted it to be as quiet as possible. 

 

 

Im starting to think the dosing container is a bad idea for holding the brine shrimp in RO. Its gonna be hard to clean. We'll see how it goes.

 

I cleaned out a couple kamoer x1's i wasnt actively using and tested 1 cube of brine shrimp. Melted it and made sure it would pass through the pump without clogging and while the being stirred. The test was successful. It works for brine!. 

 

 

Tomorrow i'll put all the parts together and get this auto feeding show on the road. 

[geekreef_05]

UPDATE: 

DINOs are still strong, like the jurassic park sequel. But hopefully they tank hard like the rest of the movies in that universe. 

 

There is definately an improvement though. Less floating snotty DINOS. 

 

I might do a half dose tonight. Keep this train rolling. Im just overrun. Its insane. 

 

Its like at the end of the first movie, when dinosaurs rule the island. 

 

Here's some pictures of the hot mess. 

 

 

Zooming in..

 

Close Up:

 

...maybe there's a difference visible from the photo record of this thread? Probably hard to tell. 

 

In other news the auto feeder is online! I need to pop the phytoplankton bottle in tonight. But brine is rolling hourly. 

 

Fridge with brine on stirring plate, mixing away. 

 

 

How the dosing pumps are attached, under my desk. Its velcro.

 

 

Now there's 6 dosing lines and the ato water line between that filter and the auto feeder.. What a mess. I should have got a neat dosing holder from the start. Sometimes a "simple no sump" reef gets overwhelmed like this lol

 

Ive become that reef. Oy veh. My asethtics lol.

 

For context the larger room shot. I have an L corner desk. And thats the nub end of it, where the fridge is under. 

 

The dosing lines are hidden by the wire cover, above the floor molding.

 

So overall. Successful reefing day. 

Lets see how things progress. 

[geekreef_05]

Ugh. 

 

My pH seems to have crashed overnight. It was 7.75 when i woke up.

 

Everything seems to be working fine. Maybe its cause i had people over. All that C02 creating ocean acidification. 

 

 

[Staticmoves]

1 hour ago, geekreef_05 said:

Ugh. 

 

My pH seems to have crashed overnight. It was 7.75 when i woke up.

 

Everything seems to be working fine. Maybe its cause i had people over. All that C02 creating ocean acidification. 

 

 

many people have successful stable reef tanks with a PH of 7.8 - 8.0. there recipe seems to be stability. 

once that stability is achieved, then maybe minor tweaking to see if you can eek and extra 0.1 or 0.2. but it may not be worth it if 7.8 is what your tank wants to stabilize at.

PH boosting at this point in your tanks life cycle may be a tough fight if your away for work, for days or weeks at a time.

Following along in your progress....

cheers................

[geekreef_05]

On this reef pH boost is driven by the protien skimmer, hooked into a c02 scrubber. It works.  

 

However, every two weeks the skimmer needs a full clean to run well without clogging the wasteline. But im working on ideas to extend that to 3 weeks. 

 

I'll give ths skimmer a cleaning shortly.

 

I had a close look at my pH monitor data. 

 

 

The nights when i dosed DINO-X my pH dropped. Nights when people were over pH dropped. Last night was both. And overall since DINOX my pH has been lower. Hm.  

 

Could be one those things or all 3.

 

Edit. I should get a new c02 monitor. Old one broke. Hm. Could even be my furnace. Its been colder this week. Hm. New C02 monitor, dinox, skimmer...

 

[geekreef_05]

DINO-X Dosing Notes:

Monday 20ml 

Tuesday 5ml

Wednesday 20ml

Thursday 10ml

Friday... 

 

I feel like there's an improvement today. They are still everywhere. But less thick. Lets see what 330pm photos reveal at their daily peak. 

 

Test Corals:

Xenia succumbed to the Dinos. 

GSP hasnt opened in 48hrs. I'll blow off the dinos today. Hopefully helps.

Monti seems comfortable basking in a bed of Dinos. Weird. 

[geekreef_05]

Office Reef, from my chillin chair: 

 

Its 3pm and there is a notable reduction in Dinos compared to Monday. I'll take and post comparison pics shortly. I think 1 week of DINOX has helped. But i also think its gonna take another week.

 

That's fine with me if it solves this problem for good. 

 

With yesterday's autofeeding success i cleaned and loaded the brine container for a 5 day period. 

 

 

I made some fine tuning efforts to the auto feeding. Brine stirrer moving as slow as possible now to prevent air gaps and get a more even distribution of brine vs water into the feeding line.

 

And im starting the morning feed with 20ml instead of 10ml cause overnight the food settles at a point approx 10ml into the dosing line.

 

I adjusted phyto accordingly too. Now its one 20ml dosing at 1am, instead of splitting it up in smaller doses. Cause the phyto seperates in the line overnight as well. This way i get an even dose, eventhough its just once a day. 

 

My only thought is around the brine shrimp. 10ml at a time seems like it maybe too little. The chromis demolish it. May not be enough left for everyone else. 

 

I'll keep an eye out and adjust. 

[geekreef_05]

DINO-X UPDATE:

Its 330pm and time for some notes. Today i see a notable difference from Monday!

 

95% reduction in floating dinos on the water surface. 90% reduction in bubble formation on rock and sand surfaces. 70% reduction of snotty strands pointing up. Remaining strands are much shorter too. 

 

I have the ability to see small patches of bare rock. A green tinge is evident.

 

The Dino-x, MB7 combo seems to be getting these Dinos under control. 

 

This is good. Im encouraged to keep going with this routine into next week. I'll keep close watch on my pH levels. Skimmer is working well. So i didnt clean it. Clearly that isnt causing the low pH. 

 

Its probably the DINO-X. 

 

I suspect it just stays a notch low while dosing DINO-X. I'll do a good sized water change after DINO-X is finished doing its thing and see if it returns to normal.

 

Reef. 

 

Little closer

 

And closer 

 

Full close up

 

/End Dino Report