Colleen & Scotts 100g build

[WarDog]

The one thing i have noticed with people with new tanks is they expect the skimmer to work flawlessly from day one. Firstly, there may not be enough junk in the water for it to even remove. My skimmer on my first tank took about a month before it started making skimmate of any measurable amount. Secondly, tuning a new skimmer on a new tank can take weeks. Make a very small adjustment and leave it for 24 hours, then adjust again and repeat. Also, make sure you are running it at the recommended depth. Thats half the battle right there. Good luck.

[Brighteyes_13]

lol, not concerned about flawless... the skimmer will skim when there's something to skim. however i am concerned that it goes from acting like there's nothing there to overflowing within seconds. What would cause that besides a major change in the water or setup?

The skimmer has been running in the tank for 2 and a bit weeks. It sits in 7.5" of water. I didnt have any instructions included with it when i got it but from what i can find online its best at 9.8" of water. If anything it should be running dryer, not wetter.
When i first fired it up i left it totally open (max flow min skim). there was silt in the water that it was helping pull out. over the first 5 days or so i emptied it of silty settlings i think twice. During week 2 i noticed my bubble level was sitting significantly lower in the chamber so i adjusted it a little bit per day. By Monday night it was at min flow max skim and the bubbles were still just barely coming up to the top of the cone/bottom of the neck. I was fine that it wasn't collecting. its a new tank like you mentioned and there's minimal algae in the water column or oils from feeding or bioload. I did want to make sure that if any started i would be on top of it.

What i am trying to understand is why it flipped on me in a matter of literal seconds. Id like to prevent from happening like that again. Id hate to have real skimmate reintroduced to the tank from an overflowing cup for some ridiculous reason that i didn't think of.

[iamfrontosa]

Maybe you stirred up detritus in the sump when you took out the old filter socks? Did you wash the new filter socks before you put them in? Are your new filter socks ones that you used previously ??

I always had similar issue with my skimmer whenever I do water change with Aquavitro salt mix.

[Brighteyes_13]

The tank has been set up for a month now. Diatom bloom cleared up nicely after about a week and a bit and some algae has started to creep in.



Just after my last post we had a chromis mysteriously disapear. Not entirely sure what happened to him. Parameters were checked the day before he vanished and no ammonia or nitrite were present, all the fish were eating and active the day before. Is it possible for large hermit crabs to get the drop on sleeping fish? Ended up with a small <0.25ppm spike in ammonia (was lighter than the 0.25 but still tinged green). Tried to find it and pulled apart some of the rockwork but was no good. Was able to get the parameters under control before any damage was done.

And you know what they say, if you get your rock the way you like it and move anything, you'll never get it back the way you had it before. I salvaged the left side of the tank but the right side is sorta a rubble heap now lol. Im sure it will all work out in the end.

Ive noticed that coraline algae seems to be growing extremely fast on some of the rocks. The same rock that was cleaned ever so nicely by the snails is now really pink!



I took Mindys advice and bought some GFO, threw 3/4c of it it in the sump in a bag. I figured today id do a full range of tests on the tank and everything is looking pretty normal for a new tank from what i can tell. I got a Nyos test for my phosphate since the api has such a huge range.
0ppm ammonia
0ppm Nitrite
10ppm Nitrate
0.025 Phosphate
240ppm calcium
125.3ppm KH (7dKH?)
8.0 pH
1.025 salinity

I think once we get the nice lights on the tank and start to buy some real corals we will have to get a better Alkalinity, and Calcium test. The range on the reading chart and adding drops to a vial just seems so inacurate, i have no idea how close my readings really are. What does everyone else use?

I also cut back on how much the tank is being fed. they only get 1/2 a cube of food per day. None of them appear to be starving and i dont see as much settling onto the sand. Whatever does the cleaner shrimp seems to grab pretty quick.

[SoloSK71]

I always figure that the great fish gods called them home and don't go looking ... once in a while they even show up a couple weeks later ...

The Hanna checkers are very highly recommended, and you can back them up with a good kit from Red Sea or one of the colorimeter based ones.

Charles

[WarDog]

API for Ammonia
Salifert for Alk, Ca, Mg, Nitrate, and Potassium
Hanna Phosphorus Checker (HC - HI736) for Phosphate (take the result, multiple by 3.066, then divide by 1000).
No need to test Nitrite (IMO)....
and a temperature compensating refractometer for salinity.

Looking good! Fish could still show up, dont rule him out yet.

[Myka]

Alkalinity drops a little but like 0.25 dKH when you first add it, really not very noticeable. You can use it in a media bag in a high fow area of the sump. No need for a reactor.

[Brighteyes_13]

thats awesome news! thanks Mindy, i'll have to try that

[Myka]

I use the same kits as Warren, and in addition I also use Red Sea Pro for NO3 and Mg as well as Hanna alkalinity checker for 2nd "opinion". Hehe. I have both Hanna po4 checkers too.

[Brighteyes_13]

Tank has been up for a few months. still happily stocking away. tank parameters have been consistent.



I have been waffling back and forth on my lights and finally decided (for now lol) what i want to do. im going to do a combo t5/ LED. t5 to supliment for growth, and the kessil led for looks. It will be cheaper to run in the long run than metal halides, and for the lifespan it would be comparable to bulb replacements. I dont require massive growth so im not concerned about LED. And a quote that ive seen over and over again, those that switch to LED from more traditional lighting dont like it as much as those who start out with LED.

Since the tank is still pretty new theres a few things that have been creeping in. I have this strange red macroalgae growing on my rocks. its not cyano, it feels pebbly/ rubbery to the touch (same as caleurpa?) and grows short and close to the rocks. the crabs and snails have no interest in it, nor does the tang. it seems to form short leaf like formations in little plateaus. the picture doesnt do it justice.





i dont know if its invasive, it seems to be light loving, and it doesnt seem to grow on/near any corals.

Also have a bit of spindleweed growing in the tank. it also doesnt seem to be growing out of control but does seem to pop up in the strangest places. I am keeping an eye on it to ensure it doesnt get out of control.



if for a strange reason anyone wants any, they can shoot me a pm and take the above little bit of coral skeleton with a bunch on it.

also noticed hydroids, both singular and colonial. they dont seem to be bothering anything and from past experience im sure its only a matter of time before they disappear.