Home Office Shallow Reef

[geekreef_05]

Reef Update, Feb 17th 2023

Slight increase in ammonia today. 

0.0002 (normal baseline) to 

0.0015. Still very low overall. 

 

Maybe an erroneous reading. The Seneye sensor slide needs to be changed today and i relocated the probe today to install the Reef Glass skimmer. 

 

Skimmer was installed around 10am. My initial reaction was that I find the Ehiem 100 pump too loud. I'll attempt to build a C02 scrubber for it, which should quiet it down. 

Currently producing clearish wet skim. Been tuning bit by bit today. The Reef Glass skimmer seems cool if the pump wasnt so loud. I hope this works out. I have a light bioload, there might not be alot for it to pull out until i feed the tank. 

 

Thus far (4hrs) skimmer has not increased 02 levels. Nor has it effected pH.  

 

WHY?  

Its possible the Reef Glass Skimmer and generally nano skimmers are wrong for adding 02. Its possible the Reef Glass is too small for my 35 gallon volume (eventhough its a light bioload). And its possible i just need to wait longer. No brown skim yet. 

 

My new ATO and dosing reservoirs are probably lost in the mail. They were suppose to arrive yesterday (from China). Damn amazon. At least i can get my cash back. I ordered new ones from a US storefront off amazon, but they dont come in until mid March. Boo. 

 

 

Next Steps

Gotta do a water test tonight. 

New urchin or snails would be good. I have no clean up crew right now. Feeling vulnerable. 

[geekreef_05]

Reef Update, Feb 17th 2023

pH is now at 7.86 at 950pm. 

pH was 7.65 last 2 nights at 950pm.

O2 has increased from 8.0 to 8.1 

 

Skimmer is likely making these improvements. Took approx 12hrs of skimming for a significant effect to be noticed.

 

Skimmate is now light tea colour. 

 

Parameter Check at 7pm

pH: 7.7

ALK: 16 

CALC: 420

Mg: 1650

 

I backed off Mg to accommodate for less uptake, being minus 1 torch. 

 

Strange that alk continues to climb. Must be the little bit in All 4 Reef, but i expected the 3 WCs to normalize my Alk and it didnt. 

 

I saw a handful of fresh $10-15 SPS frags on sale so i placed an order this evening. Its jumping the gun, but hopefully balances my alk. Order arrives Wednesday.

 

I need a clean up crew asap. Probably Tuesday. 

 

Next steps are to work out (1) better noise reduction for the skimmer pump (currently its in a padded tupperware container) and (2) diy a C02 scrubber. 

[geekreef_05]

Midnight Update!

pH is at 7.92. Usually by now its tanked at 7.6. Im curious how much higher the lil skimmer will raise pH. 

 

The skimming must also be driving my alk through the stratosphere. 

 

Hm...

[geekreef_05]

Morning Update!

 

The Good: 

pH bottomed out at 7.8 overnight. Improvement of 0.2 pH. 

 

The Bad:

Bacterial Bloom has returned. 

Ugh. Very frustrating.

Double checked that nothing dead is in the tank. All inhabitants including nass snails are accounted for.  

 

Sulfur smell hasnt hit yet. 

 

Means that agreessive water changes probably arent the solution. 

 

The skimmer may help a bit this time. 

 

Next Steps: 

UV may go back in...just considering my options this morning. 

 

Might try to increase 02 with another powerhead or airstone. 

 

Hm...

[geekreef_05]

I did put in a pinch of phyto last night. Maybe that bottle is expired. Smelled borderline last night. I'll replace it. Could be the cause. 

 

Oy vey.  

 

 

Skimmer & UV

 

 

Skim thus far (24hrs) 

 

 

Bacterial Bloom (part duex): 

 

 

Sulfur smell is now noticable. Yikes. 

[geekreef_05]

Afternoon update.

• Tank remains cloudy. No change.
• Torches not as full as normal
• Fish look normal
• No sulfur smell
• UV running steady. 
• pH at 7.89
• 02 back down to 8.0 from 8.1
• Skimmer getting broken in. 

 

Could add more surface water flow. 

 

Update: 

Its been a couple hours more (now 5pm) and the sulfur smell is starting to return. I assume because the UV is killing the bacteria. The sterilizer has  been going for 8hrs. Bit of a clarity improvement. But the smell...Its not pleasant. Wife is not impressed. Lol

[geekreef_05]

Reef Update: Feb 19, 2023

 

The smell of skim was notable this AM. Strong toilet odour coming from the tank. 

 

About 300ml of skim was emptied this AM. Skimmer is very active. Very wet. Pulling alot outta the water. 

 

Mangrove Mystery 

I just pulled the mangrove plant outta the aquarium this evening and tossed it in the bin. As i closely looked it over there where white spots everywhere. I have no idea what it is, but potentially looks like bacterial infection. 

 

What is this?

 

 

Google search didn't reveal anything about the white spots, but it did make me take note that i wasnt treating my mangrove properly. Maybe the stress caused an infection or maybe it was there before.

 

If anyone is experienced with mangroves, let me know what you think.

 

Either way, i decided it wasnt worthwhile to keep the mangrove around. 

 

The real question. 

The real mystery is what caused the bacterial bloom in the first place? It seemingly came outta nowhere, but maybe i didn't notice and correlate the mangrove the last bloom. 

 

Maybe the mangrove is my patient zero. Or maybe it just got infected after the first bloom.

 

Now that its outta the tank, we'll see if the bloom returns a 3rd time. 

[banasophia]

Weird… I hope you figure it out soon. I just got my first mangrove shoot yesterday, so unfortunately don’t have any experience yet to share, though the mold looks like what I get around the rim of my Biocube sometimes. 

[geekreef_05]

Reef Update, Feb 20, 2023

 

Water clarity has improved this AM. Toliet smell and a hint of sulfur is in the air for sure. Definitely made the house smell overnight. 

 

But also pulled out 400ml of skim. Light tea colour. Some particles. Very wet skim. 

 

I made a slight adjustment on the skimmer this AM to see if i can the skim a touch darker. 

 

Later this week i'll build my diy C02 scrubber and upgrade my skim mate solution to reduce odour and provide more collection space. 

 

Ive been doing a bit of research into ozone for odour control, but i dont see anything definitively saying its much better than carbon. Most reports hint its the same but with just lasting effects. If anyone uses ozone for odour control, let me know. 

 

Water Clarity at 8am, just as the lights come on. Easily able to see the powehead at the end of the 4 ft reef. Torches just waking up.

 

 

9pm Update. 

The skimmer stink is going strong. I gotta solve this stink asap tomorrow. Today has been another day of solid skimming. 300ml of skim mate has been collected. I assume alot of dead bacteria is part of that mix. Looks gross. Smells gross. 

 

 

[geekreef_05]

17 hours ago, banasophia said:

Weird… I hope you figure it out soon. I just got my first mangrove shoot yesterday, so unfortunately don’t have any experience yet to share, though the mold looks like what I get around the rim of my Biocube sometimes. 

 

Nice! Hopefully it works better for you than it did for me. I admit that i didnt care for the mangrove well enough. Wrong light, too high water level, etc. 

 

You said those white spots show up on your biocubes rim? What kinda macro algae do you have in there (besides the new mangrove)? 

 

[geekreef_05]

AM Update

- water clarity excellent 

- toliet smell greatly reduced, but still notable

- emptied 500ml of skim from last 24hrs. Skim is getting lighter in colour. 

 

UV and Skimmer combo must have removed most of the bacteria in the water column and is now working on regular animal waste. 

 

Big question: will the bacterial bloom occur a 3rd time?

 

Was the mangrove patient zero? 

 

Todays Tupperware Plan

- build skimate cup with carbon filtering 

- build a C02 scrubber for the skimmer

 

Pictures from before lights come on. 

 

Water clarity

 

 

 

FTS

[Snow_Phoenix]

On 2/20/2023 at 10:20 AM, geekreef_05 said:

Reef Update: Feb 19, 2023

 

The smell of skim was notable this AM. Strong toilet odour coming from the tank. 

 

About 300ml of skim was emptied this AM. Skimmer is very active. Very wet. Pulling alot outta the water. 

 

Mangrove Mystery 

I just pulled the mangrove plant outta the aquarium this evening and tossed it in the bin. As i closely looked it over there where white spots everywhere. I have no idea what it is, but potentially looks like bacterial infection. 

 

What is this?

 

 

Google search didn't reveal anything about the white spots, but it did make me take note that i wasnt treating my mangrove properly. Maybe the stress caused an infection or maybe it was there before.

 

If anyone is experienced with mangroves, let me know what you think.

 

Either way, i decided it wasnt worthwhile to keep the mangrove around. 

 

The real question. 

The real mystery is what caused the bacterial bloom in the first place? It seemingly came outta nowhere, but maybe i didn't notice and correlate the mangrove the last bloom. 

 

Maybe the mangrove is my patient zero. Or maybe it just got infected after the first bloom.

 

Now that its outta the tank, we'll see if the bloom returns a 3rd time. 

Looks like a fungal canker (possibly cytospora - I *think). Also called a die-back canker. It can spread to healthy mangroves. Do you have others? Can check very quickly if they have similar whitish nodules. How did the leaves look? 

 

A few quick journal links to the fungus (you might not be able to access the full journal article, but you can skim through the excerpts):

 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2663859

 

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/9/1273

[geekreef_05]

24 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Looks like a fungal canker (possibly cytospora - I *think). Also called a die-back canker. It can spread to healthy mangroves. Do you have others? Can check very quickly if they have similar whitish nodules. How did the leaves look? 

 

A few quick journal links to the fungus (you might not be able to access the full journal article, but you can skim through the excerpts):

 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2663859

 

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/9/1273

 

Thanks Snow! 

 

That was great info. Its definately not the black spots from Vietnam. Maybe C. rhizophorae / cytophora...but says they are bi valves. 

 

Id say it didnt really look like a bivalve to me, but maybe that species requires magnification to determine that. 

 

Good question on the leaves. They also had white spots underneath...however on top was like a white streaks. I assumed at first that was just salt. And i never looked under the leaves until i removed the plant.

 

This was my only mangrove plant. I wanted to try them out. So there's no more in the reef to infect.

 

Great info though Snow. Its fun to see very recent science that allows us to learn and adapt. I like that we're learning something new.

 

Thanks for those links.

 

My Lessons Learned: 

Mangroves require alot of specific care. Tossing it in the tank like it was tree chaeto doesn't work. I should've researched and realized that mangroves probably not right for my particular aquarium

[geekreef_05]

Tupperware Skim Cup 

Pretty simple. Two holes in a tupperware container with a visible measurement on the outside. Silicones the skimmer waste line into place. Once it dries i'll put some dry carbon on the vent hole. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C02 Scrubber 

Stage One complete! Once the glue dries i will go in there with a bit more silicome to secure any loose ends. 

 

 

 

The idea here is fairly simple. The air pump is inside the top container. Its surrounded by cloth to reduce noise virbations, except at the intake. A hole is drilled through the bottom of that top tupperware contianer, lining up with the intake. That hole also lines up with one in the top of the lower container. The lower container will contain the C02 media. The two containers are gluded together ..bottom to top to seal the airs path. 

 

The 4 airlines on the inside of the C02 media area will run to a couple places. One or two will provide recirculation, from the air pump. Another will provide moist air from the ATO reservoir. And finally one for normal room air. 

 

The red tipped clip in there came loose. It was suppose to hold a springy airline down. 

 

And im awaiting delivery of my new ATO reservoir and to get all this stuff tucked under the stand. Total mess right now. 

 

[geekreef_05]

Torches looking good today. 

 

 

Evening Update:

- 2nd round of silicone completed on the tupperware c02 scrubber. 

- tomorrow AM i should be able to add the c02 media. 

- skimmer needs more airnand retuning now that the scrubber is on. 

- Foul odours are gone!

- inhabitants looked pretty content today. 

- Fed corals this afternoon. First time since bacterial blooms. Torches eating well. 

- notable fuzz on the rocks now

- UV. To run 24/7 365 ...or not. That is the question in my mind today.

 

For now...just so good to be rid of those awful smells. 

 

Tomorrow

Big day. SPS frags arrive in the afternoon. Gonna try to hit the LFS in the AM for a clean up crew. Gotta tune in that skimmer again.  

[geekreef_05]

Well i just got the SPS frags in the tank. Kinda looks ridiculous right now. Frags are just hilarious. 

 

I regret the placement of 3 already. 

 

Well, either way, should be fine once everything grows in. 

 

 

[mitten_reef]

Just now, geekreef_05 said:

Well i just got the SPS frags in the tank. Kinda looks ridiculous right now. Frags are just hilarious. 

 

I regret the placement of 3 already. 

 

Well, either way, should be fine once everything grows in. 

 

 

Did you do any type of introduction acclimation?

 

Only asking, because I had this theory that sometimes frags from a vendor don't fare well at introduction because the alkalinity levels differ greatly between vendor and home tank (kinda equivalent of having an alk spike in a smooth-running tank). 

 

In your case, this is extra obvious, and I'm curious to see how they turned out.  

[geekreef_05]

Good point. They probably had a big alk swing when they were put in. 

 

I did a 30min light acclimatation and 10min drip acclimation. Could have used alot more time. 

 

Back in the day i was told that sps didnt need a water acclimation. And to be honest from then on ive really half assed sps acclimations. 

 

But obviously thats bad advice. They deserve to be treated with sensitivity. 

 

Lets see how they do. So far (30mins in) some polyp extension is starting on the acros, birdsnest. 

 

I'll clean some glass and take a photo in a couple hrs when it settles. 

 

Might move 1 acro..

[geekreef_05]

Reef Update, Feb 23, 2023

 

- Sulfur smell noted last night and today. Its lighter than before. Likely that bloom no 3 is forming, but the UV and skimmer are curbing it. No cloudiness this time cause of the UV. But the surface water is notably froathy. I'll check my nitrates, as they've probably gone up

 

- skimmer is producing alot of skim today. Its nicely dialed in now/broken in. Skim is very brown but wet. Going nuts today, probably cause of the bloom

 

- Got 2 smaller urchins today. Did a good 40min acclimation. They were moving soon as they got into the tank. Rocks are fuzzy so its a good time for them to graze. 

 

- 1 shrimp was found dead today. I have a feeling these sulfur smelling blooms are hard on the shrimp. 1 died last bloom as well. 

 

- finally ive added the c02 media to my diy scrubber. Lets see if that can bring up my pH.

 

- I also got a C02 monitor and the room with the reef has very high c02. 1600ppm is bad. The Den where i hang out is about 800ppm. 

 

But all the upstairs rooms are above 1000. Wifes office is like 1350ppm. Maybe c02 rises or something? 

 

 

Lets see what happens. pH is at 7.8 right now.

 

[geekreef_05]

Well the reef stinks this evening. Just totally smells of sulfur again. 

 

Algae Bloom number 3 is officially on. 

 

Thats been one bloom per week for the last 3 weeks. Its getting brutal to live with. 

 

I placed an order off amazon for a air cleaner cause the smell is taking over the house. 

 

Fish seem ok right now though. 

 

Ugh. What a mess. 

[Rhetoric]

Fighting the good fight in this thread! Nothing but a good old fashion tip of that hat from me.

[geekreef_05]

Parameter Check at 10am

 

pH: 7.7

ALK: 20!!  

CALC: 400

 

Yikes. That all for reef is really pushing Alk up. Im gonna ease back on all for reef and let alk come down. 

 

I really need a calcium only suppliment.

 

 

[mitten_reef]

16 minutes ago, geekreef_05 said:

Parameter Check at 10am

 

pH: 7.7

ALK: 20!!  

CALC: 400

 

Yikes. That all for reef is really pushing Alk up. Im gonna ease back on all for reef and let alk come down. 

 

I really need a calcium only suppliment.

 

 

hmm, something doesn't seem right with the numbers - since, chemically speaking, Ca and Alk should both go up fairly in-step together with All for Reef dosing.  you shouldn't be so lopsided, unless the baseline alk was very high before you started using AFR, or that you're dosing straight alk on the side.  just a thought.

 

other unrelated thought, do you think that the high alkalinity is fueling a sulfur-producing bacteria bloom?  bacteria are weird, every species is specialized in something more so than other - just wondering if extra high alk is causing a particular species to thrive

[PJPS]

21 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

hmm, something doesn't seem right with the numbers - since, chemically speaking, Ca and Alk should both go up fairly in-step together with All for Reef dosing.  you shouldn't be so lopsided, unless the baseline alk was very high before you started using AFR, or that you're dosing straight alk on the side.  just a thought.

 

other unrelated thought, do you think that the high alkalinity is fueling a sulfur-producing bacteria bloom?  bacteria are weird, every species is specialized in something more so than other - just wondering if extra high alk is causing a particular species to thrive

Couldn't find anything like that, but the opposite (alk from bacteria) is pretty common, google https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=high+carbonate+bacteria.  This is the exact mechanism of AFR - alk results from bacteria processing formate.  So if you dose AFR during a bacterial bloom, it may generate a huge amount of alkalinity

[geekreef_05]

During the first couple weeks of this reef being setup, i was dosing soda ash to bring up pH. It also pushed up Alk so i stopped. 

 

And from then on, even despite some big water changes, Alk has been very high. 

 

I could not find any information on bacteria blooms resulting from high alk conditions. Maybe high alk is an ideal environment for some form of bacteria. But i struggle to see a relationship. 

 

I dont think alk has much to do with these bacterial blooms. Probably unrelated. 

 

They started at the time I introduced the mangrove and corals. Its possible some hitchhiker bacteria came with them and just loves my tank conditions.