The butterflys aren't just eating everything reef in your tank?

The butterflies peck at coral constantly... But there is so much coral that the aren't able to do any damage.

REALLY bad day...
 

We lost power here for about 24 hours yesterday.

I was prepared...or so I thought. At the 12 hour mark, I unpacked my gas generator. I had purchased this many years ago for emergency use.

The generator fired right up and I connected my circulation pumps. After about 3 minutes, all the pumps overheated and shut down. By alternating one pump, then the next, then the next for 2 mins each I was able to get circulation for about 30 mins. I decided I would repeat this every hour or two until the power returned.

When I fired up the generator an hour later...it was dead. Motor runs fine...no electricity generated. It seems that I now own a gas powered noise maker!

When power finally returned, I had lost only 1 fish...my rusty angel. 6 or so frags have also died.

Another casualty may be my aquatronica controller. After several hours of trying, I cannot get it to recognize my pH probe, so I have limited control of my Ca reactor. I also cannot reconnect my computer, so getting the controller even functional at all was a major challenge.

A tough day...

Wow, sorry to hear that. Why do you think the generator caused all that?

I guess you would have checked the fuses on the generator.
Hopefully an electrician can chime in. I do know that some generators produce a modified sine wave that not all electrical devices can utilize.

Yes, I think that is what was causing the pumps to overheat. I've checked all the most obvious things with the generator. As it can't be used to drive my pumps anyway, I'm not inclined to spend much effort fixing it. I'll just give it away as is and someone else can deal with it.

Brad, I would be interested in that
pm sent

Electrician is here!!!
I bet is was a inverter generator right? Most inverter generators make a Suedo Signwave. A square wave. Good quality ones are Pulse Width Modulated which will smoothen the signwave. But cheap ones are like cheap UPS and car inverters where they make a square wave, just alternating DC 60 times a sec. This can and will overheat motors as they are not made to run on DC even a Alternating DC. Most likely played havok with the controller too. My other hobby, RC Heli's we have troubles with these cheap generators to run our power supplies for our chargers too.

Sorry for your loss. It REALLLY sux.

I knew somebody would know why the pumps overheated. Thanks!

I never connected the generator to anything else, so that can't explain why my controller is so messed up. Basically, the Aquatronica is sh*t...which is the main problem.

sorry to hear brad. hope you don't suffer anymore losses.

Sorry to hear of the frustrations.

Wow, I wouldn't have guessed that this is something to check for when looking for a generator.

I wonder what would be a good architecture to go with then, instead. Maybe a UPS or battery backup for the pumps or circulators, and let the generator simply charge the battery? Sort of like how it works when we plug our cell phones or laptops into the wall - still running on battery, it just charges faster than it discharges?

I have heard that when the power comes back on, sometimes there is a surge.
This has screwed a few friends computers, in different years.
The way I understand it, when the power goes out, you turn everything in the house off, except maybe a light, so that you know when the power is restored.
This saves your delicate electronic devices.
One friend (about 10 yrs ago) complained to hydro, and in his area, there was a big surge, neighbours had trouble as well, so hydro settled with him.

Another year seems to have drifted by so I suppose it is time for an update or two.

Over the past year or so, I've struggled with keeping my Ca/Alk levels up. I continuously tried to get MORE out of my Ca reactor, but I was frustrated that I was burning through CO2 at a startling rate. I had basically given up because I wasn't willing to spend any more $ on CO2 and I couldn't get any more production out of the reactor when my CO2 solenoid died.

I replaced the solenoid. MAGIC! All of sudden, I stopped going through CO2. Turns out that the solenoid must have been leaking badly for a long time. (yes, I checked for leaks many times but must have missed it somehow). So now I'm back to trying to raise my Ca/Alk and push my reactor harder.

I also became frustrated with constantly fighting with the peristaltic pump that drives the reactor. Not only do you need to change the tubing every few months, but the pump drive dies every couple of years. I decided to just flow the reactor continuously and put a JG solenoid on it to shut it down in the event of power failure. So far, this simpler arrangement is working well and I've got my Alk up to as high as 9! (Typically, It had been down at 6.5 for the past year or so)

Life and Death: Following the great power failure, I lost my Atlantic Blue. It is hard to say if it was related or not, but he got really sick and died in the weeks that followed the outage. Just recently, my eyelash Blennie died. His death seemed kind of "normal" to me. He seemed to just start to look quite old...his appetite diminished and he just faded away over the past few months. I didn't keep a record of his time in the tank, but my Atlantic Blue was just over 6 years.

The rest of the fish continue to thrive. Most of them have been in there 7 years now. Moe (Blonde Naso) and Corona (yellow tang) will be 8 years in a few months. Female clownfish will be 10 years in March. (Still laying eggs like clockwork every few weeks)

Coral still grows like mad...even though I have not replaced my halide bulbs in over 2 years and my T5 ballasts have all died. Eventually, I'm going to have to replace all the lights and will probably go LED at that point.

There is an ongoing war between the orange fire coral and other corals. Basically, if I keep the tank parameters healthy, the good coral holds its own. If I let things slide, the fire coral takes over. I can't face the project, but my entire live rock probably needs to be replaced in order to remove the fire coral. I'll probably need a crowbar to get it out as all my rock has become fused into one 500lb lump.

A couple of pics:
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps6405211a.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps855f1cd3.jpg

Its still looking awesome.

Brad.

Sorry to hear about the power outage problems.

Thanks for the update. Always look forward to reading about your monster tank and seeing pics of this beautiful reef system. Would like to come by and see it in person one day. Haven't come by since we used to organize those reef tour events years ago.

Anthony

Amen!

Still looks great Brad.
That yellow Sponge stuff has really taken over your rocks since I've last come by. Wow.

it's funny how things you paid for at one point can become such a nuisance. The fire coral makes the tank look freaking cool, however.

I wish it was a sponge. It is an encrusting hard fire coral, with stinging cells that causes me a lot if itchiness if I happen to touch it. It also drives my CA/Alk usage through the roof.

Yes, it does look kind of pretty...but I can't enjoy that view so much.

Now on p 14 of 118... amazing.

Regarding the fire coral, what about removing your healthy colonies and keeping them in a bin under some light for a while, then going dark to kill off the fire coral? Might be easier than removing everything... although a bit less entertaining :)

Still one of the nicest builds in the GVRD...

Still working on things. I finally decided to upgrade my CA reactor. ( pics to follow).
It is working, but I think I need to put the first reactor back in as an additional reactor. ALK doesn't seem to get higher that 6.5. The more I add, the more the tank uses.

Did you see my post above?

I would feel similar to yourself and be looking at the fire coral and wondering how much of your alk is it using...

I can't imagine the work it will take to remove it from your system but it sure seems like it LOVES the parameters in your tank and has a growth advantage over the rest of your corals...

If you ever need a hand getting in there and removing it, I'm sure a lot of us would be happy to help.

Did switching your solenoid wind up just offering a temporary boost?

I wonder if there are any biological options or if you could blast them with hot water or something and kill it off in small batches.

The Millepora genus, although not susceptible to many things, does have few areas that can lead to its demise. Having zooxanthellae algae makes them susceptible to bleaching. Higher temperatures than they are used to will cause this too, along with their being too close to a Metal Halide lamp.

From http://animal-world.com/Aquarium-Coral-Reefs/Fire-Coral and in regards to the branching fire coral so possibly not applicable.

Predators are another nuisance. These include the Pyrgomatina barnacles, both commensal and carnivorous marine worms, (polychaete), and Filefish from the Aluterus and Cantherhines genus. The Crown of Thorns Starfish Acanthaster planci, will also eat these hydracorals, even thought they are stung in the process.

Some of the most interesting predators are nudibranchs, such as the Phyllidia nudibranchs. These feed on Fire corals but can ingest the stinging nematocysts without digesting them. They then use these same nematocysts as defense by transporting them through their intestines to their dorsal appendages. When the sea slug feels threatened, it will then fire the stinging nematocysts at the predator!

That might be a bit extreme. I suspect a month of darkness might be needed, and I'm not sure how every other creature in the tank would fare, including the fish. Easier to physically remove the rocks, but that is no easy task at all.

I think whatever you do would need to be extreme for it to work. But you gotta do something! This tank could be amazing!

What's your Mag @ ?

Could you not cover large areas with some dark plastic? Thinking black garbage bag strips anchored for a week maybe? You'd have to weave the bags underneath your other colonies but one rock at a time might be manageable. If they're pressed close to the encrusted coral and there's no flow over it maybe a day or two would kill it.

New reactor is starting to work. Alk is up to 8.5. Tank doesn't look too bad.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...psjzhaa7bg.jpg

Don't know. I last measured it years ago...it was always fine. I'll check it again.

On second thought, removing the rock is probably the best idea. All that coral dying would release a lot of organics, and potentially toxins, into the water.

Brad, the tank looks amazing.

The fire coral adds to the aesthetic really...such a striking orange.

If they didn;t pose any danger to your other coral and werent so expensive to "feed" I can;t imagine why you would want to change a thing.

The new reactor continues to drive my Alk up...now up to over 9.

For years, I had assumed that I would be unable to keep up with the Ca/Alk demand because I was burning through CO2 like nobody's business. So I accepted what was. Then the CO2 solenoid crapped out. When I replaced it...boom...no more excess CO2 use. Clearly, it had been leaking for quite some time.

So my current thinking is that I will manipulate the tank conditions back to that which favours SPS and then try to outcompete the fire coral with SPS. Or at least beat it into a stalemate with the SPS.

Yes, the fire coral is pretty. Basically, my tank is orange instead of purple. It is kind of like many things. (ie star polyps, mushroom)...they are really nice until they take over the tank. Then you wish they weren't there.

Good to hear your alk is up there now. Guess it really does use that much and mag wasn't an issue, or at least isn't an issue now :smile:

I wonder if the fact that the spectrum on your lights is probably much different than when you first started and your sps were the predominant species in your tank has had any effect on this SPS vs Fire Coral escapade...

I've had this Ca reactor sitting for nearly 5 years and FINALLY installed it. It is making an immediate improvement in my Ca/Alk levels. I should have done this a long time ago.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...psrcvukuip.jpg

Wish I had the money for a Ca reactor ...

I'd dump all my dosing stuff in a heartbeat

Death of Majestic Angel
 

I just lost my Majestic Angel. I noticed some odd behaviour last week, but then he returned to normal. Then, yesterday, he began to swim in one spot just in front of a circulation pump exit. Died tonight.

Doing my best necropsy, it looks like he had not eaten in some time. Even though he appeared to be a very healthy body weight. Can't find anything really wrong with him. When I first noticed symptoms, his appearance was completely normal.

I had only had him for 7 years. I suspect his natural life expectancy was longer than that.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/IMG_1722.jpg

Sorry to hear about the loss of your Majestic. One of my favourite (semi) large Angels. Are you making any progress with the Fire Coral?

Yes, the larger Ca reactor and more diligent use of Phosphate binder has changed the tank such that my SPS are now able to hold there own against the fire coral. I'm currently tossing away many lbs of SPS every month just to ensure the fish still have room to swim.