72 Oceanic Reef Ready Bow Front Evolution...

[QuaveCube]

Thanks Mike.

 

Those pics are exactly what I was looking for. That is what I wanted to do and it is very helpful to see that someone was able to pull it off before me.

 

Thanks again,

 

Chris

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Chris,

 

No problem, that is why I'm happy to share pics on my thread that are not even my tank....

 

I want reefers to push their bowfronts to limits I thought could not be....

 

I'm looking forward to seeing your magic... Keep me informed....

[kyle102565]

mike, you have a remarkable tank, can you give an idea of how much you've spent? i'm thinking your over 6000 bucks.

[DDS4]

mike, you have a remarkable tank, can you give an idea of how much you've spent? i'm thinking your over 6000 bucks.

 

That's classified information...the wifie might be reading over his shoulder.

[MJD]

New FTS pleasssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssse.

[QuaveCube]

Mike,

 

if you are interested....I have started a thread on my tank. I will attempt to chronicle my quest as you have. Thanks for your help,

 

Chris

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=82127

[kyle102565]

mike? helloooo?....... mike? why arent you updating? i know you've run into some snags lately, how are the nitrates?

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Kyle,

 

Sorry but I haven't been able to take any updates since I'm fighting a massive ich war; it never went away. I'm starting to believe it's something other than ich.

 

The reason is that my second dose of No-ich didn't do nothing in helping my fish; they are all feeding well but some of the tangs are covered in white dots that looks like fungus, it looks like ich mixed with something else.

 

Anyway I since I know that I have tons of parasites swimming all over my tank, I got the best UV light sterilizer I could get, here is what I did.

 

Well,

 

I finally got it connected last night, it took the whole night, since I went down to the hardware store to pick up all the supplies I was going to use.

 

In the end it turned out, that I didn't need the ball valve for my return and I ended up usng my Mag 7 to drive my sterilizer.

 

I mounted it on the wall next to my reservoir and the chiller. I tried first to place it in my cabinet, no can do, with the size of the UV unit it would not fit anywhere. Then I noticed it came with brackets for the wall.

 

I also learned you need two overflows if you want to kick up the GPH to beyond 1000. I tried running the UV from my sump to my tank and it drained my sump in seconds.

 

Ater playing with it enough I decided that the easiest setup was run it from my sump to the unit and back to the sump; it then overlaps itself over and over ensuring the parasite gets double dipped.

 

Like I mentioned I'm running the mag 7 up to the UV unit; it's exactly 3 feet at it's highest point so I'm wondering since the UV states that you should have between 400-1200 am I were I want to be?

 

At 3 feet I'm at 500 GPH. So I feel I'm with the right pump because if I get the Mag 500 then I would be at 380 GPH below the recommendation.

 

I'm just hoping that at 500 gph I'm at the lower end of the specs, giving me enough kill ratio for parasites.

 

So what do you guys or gals think?

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

P.S

Kyle I took this one shot of my tank so you can see it as it is today... It was taken last weekend before I connected my UV system.

 

Edited March 18, 2006 by mikeguerrero

[kyle102565]

oh man you have your hands full. i'd be sick with worry. thanks for the update.

[ClowningAround]

hey mike the tank still looks amazing, good luck with the ich battle i hope you get through it!

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Thanks guys,

 

Kyle wanted an update and I think I owe it to all you reefers my good experiences and bad ones; therefore anyone that follows my path may jump over my obstacles better than me.

 

The UV system has been going strong for one full day now. What I have noticed is that the water is more clear and the skimmer has seemed to stop skimming all together.

 

You have to remember that I have ozone and UV working together in this water.

 

My fish are all eating but two of the tangs are covered in ich; cheveron and the blue tang.

 

They are both eating like crazy so thats great news for me.

 

I can sleep at night because the UV light is on full blast and I went with the highest grade Coralife makes ensuring my free floating parasites are going to get hit.

 

I was seeing that the free floating parasites was getting worse as the meds didn't do nothing spectacular on the second round.

 

Its funny how these meds run well the first time around but somehow are weak on the second run.

 

I have faith these fish can fight the ich that's on their bodies, I just want to zap the second set and third set of ich that hits my tank over and over.

 

Since I was using my ozone only and it's only been about 2 weeks it wasn't doing nothing since it shuts off at night, it's on a controller that measures ORP.

 

Had it been running 24 hours 7 days straight I think it would help out more, plus the turn over rate on it isn't the greatest.

 

It's connected to my skimmer and my skimmers pump is the mag 250. So I'm only getting about 200 gph going through the skimmer for ozone, the parasite would have to come down the megaflow and into the sump and then get pickep up by the mag 250.

 

Now I have the mag 700 sucking up the parasite and the mag 250. That is my mind is a peace of mind on these free floating parasites.

 

Man I'm seeing the parasites quadruple in quantity and attach themseves to my poor fish.

 

Small enviornment these fish have no where to hide, so I had to give them the best possible solution on free floating parasites.

 

I will keep all of you posted on the results.

 

Mike G

[afiser]

damn nice tank there mike

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Prior to the UV unit on Friday night, my Chevron and blue tang were literally convered in ich beyond anything I've ever seen, in fact from visual inspection I gave them one more day to live.

 

I was tempted to purchase Stop Parasites and place it in my tank in an attempt to give them immediate comfort but thought against it for my corals sake, so I purchased the UV unit.

 

I connected this monster size uv unit and started running it 24/7. What came next was very much a surprise, my water started to clear up even more and my fish started behaving different by Sunday night.

 

The big difference was in the night inspection, my fish were not darting around frantically like before they began going to sleep in the live rock. To me that's an indication that the free floating parasites are being erradicated.

 

This was the most evident with the powderblue tang which never would sleep peacefully since the ich outbreak, now he is off to bed, something I'd not seen since the day he first arrived.

 

Don't mis-construe what I'm documenting, my two tangs are still covered in ich as UV does zero on infected fish, just that secondary infection is looking bleak.

 

If I were to have a microscope handy I'd be able to see the concentration of parasites less than without the uv unit.

 

I've learned something with ozone and uv. My ozone unit is powered by a Mag 250 which is slowed down considerally to match the intake of my skimmer. As ich infested water is captured down my mega flow into my sump, parasites are still escaping this small recirculating pump.

 

In fact, having my controller shut off my ozone every night and not firing up untill daylight hours was giving parasites more time to breed.

 

Well, with the introduction of the monster size uv unit that is rated for 500 gallons, I'm turning over major kill ratio on a 72 gallon reef. With the mag 700 on a closed loop system, I'm increasing the kill ratio by passing the parasites on a continual basis as they enter the sump.

 

Between the Mag 250 and 750, I'm turning over about 700 gallons of infected water per hour and as I sleep I feel confident that the free floating parasites are getting their share of radiation and ozone.

 

I literally feel like my tank has become one of those coin operated water purification systems.

 

Now on the flip side of the coin, since I have the coralife powerstrip timer, I'm going to run my uv unit on daylight hours, as I feel and have read that running the uv in the night is not necessary especially since plankton is encouraged to breed in twilight hours. I'll do this after one month of operation ensuring the ich is under control.

 

I also dose at night and having the uv light go night night is very convenient for me, not having to manually each night shut it off, saves on energy and the life of the bulb, which is rated at 8,000 hours of continuous use.

 

I'm not out of the woods, but I certainly feel I've found a trail to begin my movement back to safe ground.

 

MG

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Well,

 

Reefers I'm back from vacation and have some reporting to do regarding the 12x Coralife Sterilizer.

 

My unit has been running full blast since last monday, that was the day I set it up on a mag 350.

 

Last Friday I took off with my wife to Anaheim, Ca to visit my brother and left my tank on auto pilot.

 

You all know that I'm fighting a ich epidemic in my reef and as I came home I was much surprised with what I saw.

 

I saw a really healthy tank with all fish swimming with their vibrant colors. The chevron and blue tang were the heaviest affected with ich prior to me setting up the UV system.

 

On Friday, the chevron was really covered and he hardly has any ich on him as I inspected the tank today.

 

The blue tang which I thought should be dead, since he was covered in ich, is still alive and has less ich as well, but not as clean as the chevron.

 

The others have no visible signs and the powder tang has just a few dots.

 

I attribute the sucess to my UV and Ozone.

 

Slowly but surely the tank is really comming alive with water quality and healthy fish.

 

I tried meds with no success and this appears to be really doing a positive number on my tank.

 

It's only been one week but it's a positive turn.

 

If I didn't already mention earlier, I dropped in two more MJ1200's on daytime timers.

 

I kicked up the turn over rate in my tank to 34x turn over rate. In a positive movement to capture more free floating parasites into my UV and Ozone.

 

It's working....

 

Like I mentioned in the beginning I will be keeping all of you updated....

 

More to come....

 

Mike G

[Saltwater]

Keep an eye on things, there may be another out break coming up, even though the UV will rid some of the free swimming ones it will not rid all, there will be the ones that make it on your fish as may already know.

 

Just a thought ........ Do you feel a dip may help rid the ones still on your fish before they mature and fall off, or syphoning your sand bed may help with those extras?

 

They are very tough to get through & key is elimination from your tank...... Good luck and keep us posted.....

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Saltwater,

 

I think a dip would be a great idea, only thing is I've never done one before and I would never be able to catch the tangs; you kidden me Tangs?

 

There was this Fish Trap at Tongs in Fountain Valley that I saw for $50 dollars, made by aquamedics.

 

I guess I could first purchase that, then I have to make a hospital tank and then contact you for instructions on the dip

 

Sounds like it's a all weekend deal if I go that route.

 

Saltwater, do you know of any meds I could use along with the UV and Ozone?

 

I'm thinking of running Stop Parasites for one week while I shut off the ozone and uv.

 

I've heard great and bad things about the Stop Parasites. What do you think?

 

MG

[Saltwater]

Tangs can be very hard to catch......

 

I know nothing about Stop Parasites, You could PM FishTechNH I bet they could tell you. They are really good with the different medication types and uses....

[BelowH2O]

Your rocks have gotten PURPLE! Tanks looking good, Mike.

[Smitten4Witten]

great tank, one of the best i have ever seen, this is what happens with a good budget and proper planning

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Here are some updated pics on my reef, bare in mind that I'm still fighting the ich as I approach 2 weeks on Monday, that's when the UV unit was added.

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S

Tiger ACE15, thanks for your comment, it indeed makes me strive to keep up my work...

Edited April 2, 2006 by mikeguerrero

[CyCLOnE]

Wow that tank is nice. All your tanks are nice. Your nanos were the best. That clam in the middle looks huge how big is it. Nice Job

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Cyclone,

 

Thanks for your compliment on my nanos and my bowfront, I've put in a lot of hard work.

 

Regarding that clam, it's the original from my first nano tank I had. I'll post a pic of it from when I first got it, so you can see the difference in size.

 

It's gotten so big in my tank, that it has eaten all my chromis as they swim by..... Can you imagine that???? J/K I just couldn't resist....

 

The killer crocea clam eats my blue chromis to stay blue in color....

 

Here is the pic....

 

 

P.S

I'm announcing the return of a secret nano tank that I'm building.... More to come....

 

MG

Edited April 6, 2006 by mikeguerrero

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

I've reached week 3 since adding the UV unit and all my tangs are doing much better.

 

Nothing has died which is quite remarkable, because 3 weeks ago my fish were covered in ich, I didn't even recognize the blue tang.

 

I'm so happy I invested in this UV unit, Coralife gets a thumbs up on this unit.

 

I highly recommend it to any reefer, suspecting any foul play with ich in their reefs.

 

Mike G

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Hey Reefers,

 

Time for an update on filtration:

 

My reefkeeper went bad and it kept resetting itself like mad. I emailed back and forth Digital Aquatics and they finally sent me out a replacement powerstrip.

 

I purchased on advice from DA the upgrade expansion unit. All worked out perfectly in the end, but check out the damage the reefkeeper did to the power strip it was connected to.

 

It overheated since it had so much juice it was carrying. Man this got me scared when I saw it.

 

Here are the pics I tooK:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fish n' pets]

Wow, that looks...burnt. I would be scared to death, too! I've been tagging along, and i love your tank! Glad nothing has died because of the ich!