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with a system that size consider buying in bulk, that is what I did, expensive up front but it lasts and is always there when you want it
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Crap picture but still a nice red Fungi sp. :)
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-XRzqLzH-L.jpg The space invader is growing well now that it's being fed. http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-mdSbc2T-L.jpg We also moved the freshwater tank back into the basement now that the reno is pretty much done :) http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-Ww9k8MR-L.jpg And here it is in context to the big tank :) Please excuse the poor image quality. http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-XJwnWFj-L.jpg |
so nice an clean.....you really took the time to do things right and it shows. Glad that space invaders is doing well for you. Watch out for those feeder tentacles at night. !
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It even puts the tentacles out in the daytime :) I have a seasons greetings monti that I will need to move sooner than later. Unfortunate as it's doing really well where it is.
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Very well put together system, well thought out
An inspiration for me |
A couple new shots from this evening :) I will post side shots with top shots when possible.
Rasta http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...53xXFPG-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...cgqJPdw-XL.jpg War Coral http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...9NGXkjV-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...MVDtFSK-XL.jpg Pectina Space Invader (note the left side missing the bright green skirt…. long spine urchin attack). http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...pwfZTxp-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...2V29WDv-XL.jpg Seasons Greetings Monti http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...XzPXWxF-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...sQntrqx-XL.jpg Scolymia (note dark pinch mark top left…. healing from an urchin attack) http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...LbX8H7w-XL.jpg |
Some random zoo/paly & chalices.
Hornet wannabe's http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...32BMqX6-XL.jpg Capt'n 'Merica's and Tubb's Blues http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...wNxDhhp-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...GrQDs5n-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...SmpR9LT-XL.jpg I like the green streaming eye on this watermelon. http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...mSpxXsN-XL.jpg I love the peachy orange/pink eye combo http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...478dPCr-XL.jpg Mummy Eye http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...6hNQqHk-XL.jpg Candy Apple Red's http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...6G6jB63-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...nLtQp2M-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...k7KZh4z-XL.jpg |
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Sweet nice stuff
Is that red plate from bayside ? I see they got one on the website. |
Awesome pics!
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Your getting some nice colours already.... impressive. :)
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Thanks! I have high hopes now that I have the ™ system dosing at a somewhat stable rate that the colours and growth will only get better :)
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Some new shots! The growth is amazing!
The new games table is in place. http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...z5ZXmrx-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...D3Tp5zP-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...sZhndzp-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...h5ZsCTn-XL.jpg This one has streaks of pink in it as well :) http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...n28nfZb-XL.jpg And this thing is amazing. http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...sr7txjs-XL.jpg The growth on the Monti's has been the most noticeable. http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...hrg8GzM-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...XV4Hmvk-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...mGKdM5S-XL.jpg |
Some more SPS.
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...NnNpf8K-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...NHFHJM9-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...NKchBM6-XL.jpg The one half of this monti shows a nice whorled growth pattern where as the other side is freaking out! http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...DWjKc9v-XL.jpg And this is the toughest one to photograph. It's a yellow hammer with gold base and blue tinges on the periphery of the hammers. Super cool! http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...bdQMLqh-XL.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...tcp7JrV-XL.jpg |
That is one badass games room:drinking:
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really sweet collection of corals! glad to see you're having success with the mitras too.
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The Red fungia and the last Euphyllia are amazing!
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Ya that red plate is killer.
Great progress. Is this your basement? It looks great. |
Red plate?! What manner of sorcery is this?!
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Looks like the tank is settling in nicely! The basement looks great. I'm still in love with that red plate, and still kicking my own butt for not snagging it. You're right about that Hammer too - pictures don't do it justice - it is spectacular in person.
Is the cyano still on the back burner? Did you start up the biopellets again? Do you plan to? |
The cyano is nothing but a bad dream now! I have not started up biopellets and I don't think I will any time soon. I like Colby's pov that they are a great fix to a problem, but they aren't a necessarily 24/7 media. I don't think I will bring it back online unless I start to see elevated nutrient values that water changes can't handle.
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I've found a person has to be very careful with biopellets because they are VERY aggressive and can easily cause more harm than good. I'm glad to hear the cyano is nearly forgotten. :D
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So how then with my system which was brand new, and tested flat for nuisance nutrients started getting a cyano problem? Then I take them offline, the problem goes away AND my nutrients stayed at zero's. I did buy them and the reactor with the idea to run them at all times, but then got cyano which the pellets are supposed to prevent are they not?
My last tank had hair algae and bryopsis, so in planning this one I wanted to use everything I could to prevent that nutrient build up! I'm not saying I won't try to bring them online again, just for now I don't have any issues so I don't want to introduce them. |
Well,... there is a simple sure preventative for cyano. It's called MB7, and a must use with bio pellets, IMO. I have discussed it here many time....
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Scott, I think what happened with your biopellet experience is that you were using too many for the amount of available nutrients. That's what I find causes cyano with biopellet use. Discussions with some very experienced professionals seem to come to the same conclusion. The amount of biopellets used needs to match the amount of nutrients available for the biopellets to feed on. Since your tank is so new and you have such massive nutrient reduction equipment already in place, it is possible that 1/2 cup of biopellets would be too much. In my 90-gallon SPS tank I used fractionally less biopellets than was recommended - any more and I would get cyano growth.
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I stand by it as a sure preventative,... if used correctly. Like I said, I have discussed exactly how to accomplish that several times here in the past. |
Honestly right now my problems aren't the algae type so I am not even thinking about biopellets lol. I am still trying to get my Ca, Alk, Mg balanced.
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^ Pretty much. :lol:
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It's been somewhat of a pain in the butt! I had my numbers balanced and started dosing equal parts of the three part ™ system. Within 2 days my alk and mg was low and my ca was ok. I up'd my Part B & C dosing and it seemed like no matter how high I kept dialling up my dosing my alk & mg wouldn't go up. I was dosing extra Part C to try and raise the mg but I could NOT get it past 1300 according to my salifert test (confirmed by Bayside Corals test).
Maybe the chemistry experts can help me. I have ~300g of water volume. I made up the ™ recommended mix of a one gallon solution and have been dosing 2 x 175ml of part B. Two days ago I had an Alk of 7.4 and today I have an Alk of 9.4. What's going on!? I lowered my dosing back to 2 x 150ml a day Part B and will see what happens in a couple days. |
Scott your tank and basement look great. The problem with new tanks is your chemistry demand is always changing until it becomes more established with a healthy number of corals. Then demand becomes more stable and you can dial things in and maintain levels without constant adjustment. Until then it's test and adjust at least a few times a week. I found this to be particular frustrating when I ran a 3 stage dosing system myself, three separate parts to test and adjust several times a week was just a pain, Ca in particular is hard enough just to test consistently. This is why I switched back to a Ca reactor, I just test Alk and maintain that assuming the rest remains balanced which for the majority of the time is exactly the case.
In regards to your Mag, I'm not sure why you would want levels above 1300, I'd say anything above 1200 is ideal. As far as the alk jump, that's pretty typical after upping the dosage, sometimes it takes a bit for the adjustment to register. It might take a while to come down what that size tank and little stock so don't be too quick to adjust, if it remains stable you're probably at the right dosage. Also upping Ca can help decrease Alk levels. |
Thanks Steve. I plan on just testing for 3-4 days now and not adjusting anything and seeing what happens with the numbers.
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Don't try and use your dosing pumps to adjust the levels. You will constantly be adjusting them like a yo yo. It's much better to manually bump your parameters to the levels you want and keep the dosers set as close to maintenance you can get. You will always have a little drift but if you regularly test and bump if needed it's not a big deal.
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This is the best I can do! http://ih3.redbubble.net/image.12154...550,orange.jpg |
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Well I have another little problem. I knew the bottom sump was too small after the first time I unplugged my main return pumps and the water from the display overwhelmed the bottom sump and dumped ~10g down the emergency drain. I had two power outages yesterday and each time it left my lower sump pump running half dry and emptied my ATO pail into the system. Now the ATO pail is currently only a 5g pail so it wasn't an issue but I made a promise to myself to not compromise anything in this project. So, I will need to build a larger bottom sump that can handle that extra volume. Right now the lower sump is 14 deep x 48 wide x 12 3/8 to the emergency overflow. That works out to ~36g. I need to up it to ~50g. SO I need to add ~14g of capacity. The stand itself can accomodate another 2" of sump to the front. I don't really want to go any taller and can't go any wider.
If I get a new sump made that is 5" deeper front to back that will add ~12.9g of volume which should be enough. That would also require me to build an add-on to the bottom of the sump stand to support the extra 3" of sump overhang. Wendy suggested a sensor and pump that would start draining the lower sump when it got to a certain level and while I like that idea I know it would be fairly complex to work out not to mention the problem occurs when the power goes out so all the programming in the world isn't going to help at that moment. I honestly think a larger bottom sump is my safest & simplest solution. Any opinions or suggestions? |
Can you run a simple check valve right after your pump? A george fischer wye check valve would be very effective and wouldn't limit flow very much.
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