I was going to loan you my pump but realized that I was missing a 1 in front of the 8000
Dream 525 gallon peninsula display with large fish room.
- Thread starter Adam
- Start date
Umm, yeah, that would no worky. I wonder if an 8000 would even create enough pressure to pull any air into the mazzei injector. lol
Ya getting nitrates down is damn difficult in large volume system!
You know how long it took for mine to get under control…
I’m thinking if you increase phosphate a bit, bacteria maybe able to reproduce even more and consume more nitrates.
Nice progress either way!
You know how long it took for mine to get under control…
I’m thinking if you increase phosphate a bit, bacteria maybe able to reproduce even more and consume more nitrates.
Nice progress either way!
Nitrate down a bit to 31.7. Phosphate back up on it's own. Depressingly high. How high? Don't know, maxed the Hanna out again.
Will test with Salifert in the morning.
What does this actually mean - that your ATS is insufficient to handle the bio load?
Is this all from fish poop and feeding?
What would happen if you just tossed 2 giant clumps of chaeto into your sump?
Is this all from fish poop and feeding?
What would happen if you just tossed 2 giant clumps of chaeto into your sump?
It means I'm probably going to have to resort to GFO soon. I'm not going to put a fuge in the sump. I'd only put in another standalone tank for that.
The sheet I have in the ATS isn't full size. So I can increase the production a little. This has more to do with the 3 large fish and no coral in the system. Anything that grows photosyntheticly is part of the nutrient export. Unfortunately with the numbers this high most any coral I put in will die. I just upped the carbon dosing to 12ml a day and I'll leave it there for a week to see what the trates do. If they keep dropping I'll at least know I've got them under control.
Once the nitrate is under 20 I'll have to start running GFO for a while to pull the phosphate down and keep it there. Over time I'll wean off it. I'm just not a fan of the stuff because of all the other elements it pulls out.
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Hanna errored out flashing 200 last night. Salifert comes in around 0.5 just now... hopefully it's the latter.
Are you sure your Hanna checker is working
Which Hanna P04 do you have? Must be the ULR..
The HI774 Phosphate ULR checker provides an accurate way to measure phosphate from 0.00 to 0.90 ppm.
The HI713 Phosphate Low Range Colorimeter Hanna Checker Range: 0.00 to 2.50 ppm (mg/L)
The HI774 Phosphate ULR checker provides an accurate way to measure phosphate from 0.00 to 0.90 ppm.
The HI713 Phosphate Low Range Colorimeter Hanna Checker Range: 0.00 to 2.50 ppm (mg/L)
I have the Hanna Phosphorus ULR and it tops out at 200ppb, which is 0.64ppm Phosphate.
The word of the day is, "Pineapples".
Piña colada anyone?
Got a good bit done this weekend. David came over yesterday and he got the holes for the hinges drilled on the canopy panels. I got the 1st coat of paint on the back sides and just finished the 2nd coat. I also started working on the plumbing for the ATS and setting up 2 reactors. After a trip to Home Depot last night I got everything else I'd need. Oh, I swapped the replacement pump for the skimmer too. Here's another shout out to Steve Burton. That loner pump kept me going without missing a beat.
Today I got the reactors mounted and plumbed up to a new pump and rerouted the another new pump, pipe and tubing for the ATS.
I now have carbon and GFO online.
I can tell you, based on the cost of GFO I will be regenerating it. I have the sodium hydroxide and found the article on how to do it. I just need to buy another BRS reactor and a Maxjet pump.
Back to the word of the day.
I have never seen so many pineapple sponges in any system before. They're everywhere. Tank, all over the rocks, in the overflow and through out the sump. We'll see how long they last.
The organic carbon dosing is up to 13ml a day and I'm due to go up in a couple days. I've got a feeling the GFO is going to be used up by then.
Well, that's it for today.
Piña colada anyone?
Got a good bit done this weekend. David came over yesterday and he got the holes for the hinges drilled on the canopy panels. I got the 1st coat of paint on the back sides and just finished the 2nd coat. I also started working on the plumbing for the ATS and setting up 2 reactors. After a trip to Home Depot last night I got everything else I'd need. Oh, I swapped the replacement pump for the skimmer too. Here's another shout out to Steve Burton. That loner pump kept me going without missing a beat.
Today I got the reactors mounted and plumbed up to a new pump and rerouted the another new pump, pipe and tubing for the ATS.
I now have carbon and GFO online.
I can tell you, based on the cost of GFO I will be regenerating it. I have the sodium hydroxide and found the article on how to do it. I just need to buy another BRS reactor and a Maxjet pump.
Back to the word of the day.
I have never seen so many pineapple sponges in any system before. They're everywhere. Tank, all over the rocks, in the overflow and through out the sump. We'll see how long they last.
The organic carbon dosing is up to 13ml a day and I'm due to go up in a couple days. I've got a feeling the GFO is going to be used up by then.
Well, that's it for today.
We should all be magicians…things appear in our tanks out of nowhere
And disappear too!
David and I got the canopy installed yesterday. It took a lot longer than either of us thought it would at about 10hrs. There were some breaks in there but it still was a long day! I had hoped to get a few other things done and if I'd have known how long we would have been at it I would not have spent so much time on Saturday repairing a humidor that a buddy gave me.
It is very nice to finally have it up and I really like the look of it. Austin stopped by for a bit and he said it reminded him of Red Sea's type stands, which was kind of the look I was after. Something clean and modern. There still some needed trim work to be done, where the top meets the ceiling and the closet along the back wall. I'm debating what I want to do with the canopy itself. I know some seams need to have some type of trim, mainly the center joint on the upper box. I've been thinking about it since last night and I'm coming to the conclusion that most of it would probably best be done when the rest of the molding and trim goes in for the rest of the basement. That will also give me time to figure out how I want to do the enclosure panels for the stand.
Anyway, enough of me rambling, here are some pics.
![20211017_134100[1].jpg](https://atlantareefclub.org/data/attachments/49/49614-2ae9e22e7d70a704334ee80b5f809a37.jpg "20211017_134100[1].jpg")
![20211017_182415[1].jpg](https://atlantareefclub.org/data/attachments/49/49616-6f484c6da216a29c2ab5b8b516c984f4.jpg "20211017_182415[1].jpg")
![20211017_201455[1].jpg](https://atlantareefclub.org/data/attachments/49/49617-1cf8d30507918579d9333c09e67bff94.jpg "20211017_201455[1].jpg")
I took this one before I left for work this morning. The lights were dimmed down pretty far when we finished up. That and well, we were too damn tired anyway.
![20211018_075024[1].jpg](https://atlantareefclub.org/data/attachments/49/49618-d37f8300bb48668a0ee056501e328a0c.jpg "20211018_075024[1].jpg")
Yes, there is a good bit of GHA in there
but it hasn't gotten any longer and with the amount we see floating around & caught in the filter socks it appears to be slowly dying off. The Nitrate was down to 32 and the Phosphate was 0.19 last Wednesday. I had hoped to get a water change done yesterday along with changing out the GFO & cleaning the ATS. But that will have to happen tonight or tomorrow. The last water change I did was on 9/22. With that in mind I've been very happy that the nutrients have been slowly dropping and not going up. That means the export methods are working. I just need to be careful not to drop the PO4 too far yet so the carbon dosing and ATS have some to work with. Once I get the NO3 into the single digits I'm going to nuke the PO4 with GFO for a week or so to see if any leaches out of the rockwork and sand.
I also had ICP testing done. Both the display and frag system showed high Aluminum. The only thing they have in common other than the supply water, which came back at zero, is Brightwell Xport. I have a plate in the display sump and several blocks in the frag sump, they are all coming out tonight. The plate has actually been disintegrating, so when I do the water change I will be sucking all that crap out. From what I've read the GFO should pull it out along with the Phosphate. The frag system will be reset with a near 100% water change.
That's it for now, hopefully some good things to post about in the coming weeks!!!
It is very nice to finally have it up and I really like the look of it. Austin stopped by for a bit and he said it reminded him of Red Sea's type stands, which was kind of the look I was after. Something clean and modern. There still some needed trim work to be done, where the top meets the ceiling and the closet along the back wall. I'm debating what I want to do with the canopy itself. I know some seams need to have some type of trim, mainly the center joint on the upper box. I've been thinking about it since last night and I'm coming to the conclusion that most of it would probably best be done when the rest of the molding and trim goes in for the rest of the basement. That will also give me time to figure out how I want to do the enclosure panels for the stand.
Anyway, enough of me rambling, here are some pics.
I took this one before I left for work this morning. The lights were dimmed down pretty far when we finished up. That and well, we were too damn tired anyway.
Yes, there is a good bit of GHA in there
but it hasn't gotten any longer and with the amount we see floating around & caught in the filter socks it appears to be slowly dying off. The Nitrate was down to 32 and the Phosphate was 0.19 last Wednesday. I had hoped to get a water change done yesterday along with changing out the GFO & cleaning the ATS. But that will have to happen tonight or tomorrow. The last water change I did was on 9/22. With that in mind I've been very happy that the nutrients have been slowly dropping and not going up. That means the export methods are working. I just need to be careful not to drop the PO4 too far yet so the carbon dosing and ATS have some to work with. Once I get the NO3 into the single digits I'm going to nuke the PO4 with GFO for a week or so to see if any leaches out of the rockwork and sand.I also had ICP testing done. Both the display and frag system showed high Aluminum. The only thing they have in common other than the supply water, which came back at zero, is Brightwell Xport. I have a plate in the display sump and several blocks in the frag sump, they are all coming out tonight. The plate has actually been disintegrating, so when I do the water change I will be sucking all that crap out. From what I've read the GFO should pull it out along with the Phosphate. The frag system will be reset with a near 100% water change.
That's it for now, hopefully some good things to post about in the coming weeks!!!
Love the canopy, came out great!
after i redid the plumbing for the 150gal, i noticed that i have pineapple infestation. i have never seen so much of them before....over time they did die off but that also included me manually scraping them off since i didn't like the way they look.
Looks fantastic!
those are pretty much the only things that pop up in the toad fish tank - I've never run a light over that tank and get zero algae, cyano etc - but the pineapple sponges will come and go
!
Not a whole lot to report over the last 3 months. Been devoting most of my attention to completing the rest of the basement. Doors are in, Drywall is in, it has 2 coats of primer, 1 coat of paint and it'll need 1 more coat. The bathroom is tiled, Vanity is in and operational, Toilet is in place but not operational yet, wiring in there is complete (The plumbing kicked my ass). The flooring was delivered today as well. Now I need 5 more gallons of paint and get it on the walls. Then it's time for a flooring party! After that the final trim goes in and gets painted. Done!?!?!?
With the systems the nutrient battle on the display seems to be under control. The carbon dosing seems to chew through Alk, but it's probably not that bad as it feels. 3 months or more to drop from mid 8's to 5.6dKH without any dosing. I think at the lower end of the Alk levels the carbon dosing is less effective. We'll see soon because I have been bumping up the Alk slowly since Saturday, it should be in the low 7's now and I'll test both NO3 & Alk tonight. The trates have been under 40 for a while now and bottomed out at 29.2 just before Thanksgiving. I hadn't tested it since but the carbon dose was upped 2 more ml a day at that time and I expected it to continue dropping. This past Saturday it was at 34.6, not a bad increase but bad in the sense that I thought it'd be under 20. I've now got the carbon dose up to 24.5ml/day. If the NO3 is down any tonight I think the Alk may have been an issue, more confirmation on that would be if the Alk comes back in the mid 6's instead of the low 7's.
PO4 was my nice surprise, it tested at 0.08 Saturday. We all know GFO works but I haven't been the best at changing it out. But the reactor is one of the monster jumbo BRS ones. I've gone through enough GFO that I'll need to regenerate some soon.
After the testing tonight I need to clean the skimmer and pump. I'm planning on leaving it off for 24hrs because I'm going to dose Eco-Balance once it's shut down. At the end of the week I'll do a 100-150 gallon water change and at that point I think the system will be ready to add some coral. Going to start in the 60 frag connect to the system and see how things react. I also need to really get some consistency going with the coral QT's. Mostly, that just means me doing more frequent water changes on them. I need to dose some Reef Flux tonight and scrub aiptasia off the rack and zap the ones on frags in there. Justin is going to bring me some fresh cuttings soon and those will likely be what goes in the 60 frag first. There's no aiptasia in the 20 QT, only the 40, but both seem to have traces of bryopsis and that needs to be dealt with before anything in them goes to the display system.
From this point forward I will be starting the coral rotation through QT and into the systems. Over the next several months this thread will be seeing more reports from me. I may even setup the Trident soon just to see how things react, mostly just to have a visual on the Alk so I know when to dose it.
Oh, the pineapple sponges are pretty much gone too. That's it for now, no pics with this update.
With the systems the nutrient battle on the display seems to be under control. The carbon dosing seems to chew through Alk, but it's probably not that bad as it feels. 3 months or more to drop from mid 8's to 5.6dKH without any dosing. I think at the lower end of the Alk levels the carbon dosing is less effective. We'll see soon because I have been bumping up the Alk slowly since Saturday, it should be in the low 7's now and I'll test both NO3 & Alk tonight. The trates have been under 40 for a while now and bottomed out at 29.2 just before Thanksgiving. I hadn't tested it since but the carbon dose was upped 2 more ml a day at that time and I expected it to continue dropping. This past Saturday it was at 34.6, not a bad increase but bad in the sense that I thought it'd be under 20. I've now got the carbon dose up to 24.5ml/day. If the NO3 is down any tonight I think the Alk may have been an issue, more confirmation on that would be if the Alk comes back in the mid 6's instead of the low 7's.
PO4 was my nice surprise, it tested at 0.08 Saturday. We all know GFO works but I haven't been the best at changing it out. But the reactor is one of the monster jumbo BRS ones. I've gone through enough GFO that I'll need to regenerate some soon.
After the testing tonight I need to clean the skimmer and pump. I'm planning on leaving it off for 24hrs because I'm going to dose Eco-Balance once it's shut down. At the end of the week I'll do a 100-150 gallon water change and at that point I think the system will be ready to add some coral. Going to start in the 60 frag connect to the system and see how things react. I also need to really get some consistency going with the coral QT's. Mostly, that just means me doing more frequent water changes on them. I need to dose some Reef Flux tonight and scrub aiptasia off the rack and zap the ones on frags in there. Justin is going to bring me some fresh cuttings soon and those will likely be what goes in the 60 frag first. There's no aiptasia in the 20 QT, only the 40, but both seem to have traces of bryopsis and that needs to be dealt with before anything in them goes to the display system.
From this point forward I will be starting the coral rotation through QT and into the systems. Over the next several months this thread will be seeing more reports from me. I may even setup the Trident soon just to see how things react, mostly just to have a visual on the Alk so I know when to dose it.
Oh, the pineapple sponges are pretty much gone too. That's it for now, no pics with this update.
