135 Oceanic Build!
- Thread starter BigCountry
- Start date
Thanks guys. I removed the cheato algae from the fuge this weekend and threw up a single bulb algae scrubber. Will try to get some pics of that this week. It was pretty easy to make - purchased a 19 dollar waterfall pump at Lowes, made a rectangle pvc frame and zip tied heavy duty fabric to it. The water from the pump trickles down the fabric and the light hits it 12 hours a day. Should hopefully start growing some steady green algae on the fabric here in a few weeks. The cheato was just not growing...
Started "vodka dosing" also. Cannot get my nitrates to drop below 10. Read good things about dosing over on melevsreef.com, so going to try that for a few weeks and see if that can get the levels to drop.
I figured a 6 dollar bottle of Vodka was definitely worth a shot
Started "vodka dosing" also. Cannot get my nitrates to drop below 10. Read good things about dosing over on melevsreef.com, so going to try that for a few weeks and see if that can get the levels to drop.
I figured a 6 dollar bottle of Vodka was definitely worth a shot
I see what you did there...I figured a 6 dollar bottle of Vodka was definitely worth a shot
Also, won't the chaeto and the scrubber compete against each other?
The chaeto is gone. It kept shrinking and shrinking. Yeah I replaced it with a scrubber. Which is more than likely going to be to an experiment at this point...lol
Nitrates are my problem. They seem to be stable at 20ppm. I cannot get them any lower. Hopefully the vodka will help. Tank is very new though, so I might be stuck at 20 for a few months. Hopefully not.
Nitrates are my problem. They seem to be stable at 20ppm. I cannot get them any lower. Hopefully the vodka will help. Tank is very new though, so I might be stuck at 20 for a few months. Hopefully not.
Take it for what it's worth......
I used vodka my 1st year of reefing with the promise of overstocking and overfeeding with lowered nitrate and phosphate readings. The results - started with 15 fish and a handful of corals (sea fans, softies, and LPS), Nitrates were very high 80 ppm, P04 5.0+ within' 4 weeks nitrates were within 20ppm, 8 weeks Nitrate 20ppm po4 .05, 12 weeks Nitrate below 10 ppm Po4 .05 - that's when things went south.......
I started noticing brown bacteria growing all over the rocks, coraline algae started dying, corals started dying, red slime algae was all over under the sand bed. after 16 weeks with Nitrate below 10 and po4 .05 - marine ICK on 90% of my stock, coraline completely gone, Red Slime was now my chief de-nitrifying bacteria, nitrates and phosphates pretty much disappeared but so did my fish and corals - the tank was Nuked. 50% of my livestock died leaving me with a tank full of ammonia and nitrite - The tank went full circle from early maturity back to the beginning.
What went wrong? Simple answer, organic carbon dosing works for mature stable low nutrient tanks. Adding 15 fish isn't low nutrient, feeding new growing corals daily isn't LNS either. Adding to the cuc, adding fish, adding corals, adding inverts, adding anemones, etc... increases the bioload. The higher the bioload the more Vodka to lower Nitrate and po4 eventually leading to overdose. Had my stock been set and appropriate for a LNS corals and inverts established things might have been different but new systems are exactly that, new systems with (in my case) a high level of TDS.
After the holocaust I went a different route, GFO and 6 units Chempure elite. It took quite a few GFO changes to remove the Po4, tested every 4 days when po4 came back and it does, I swapped out the GFO til' it was completely gone. The Chempure soaked up the Nitrate really quickly and should be good for like 6 mo. Purgien is another tried and true route. I also run a carbon reactor- it helped clear up alot of the dead bacteria build up on the rocks which is still present several months later. I do have coraline again with no additives, Ick is gone, corals were replaced and growing health for the most part. Red slime's gonna be a bugger to get out but it is slowly dissappearing.
Just wanted to give you another persons experience with Vodka, and not the upbeat magic cure all some of the websites will lead you to believe.
I used vodka my 1st year of reefing with the promise of overstocking and overfeeding with lowered nitrate and phosphate readings. The results - started with 15 fish and a handful of corals (sea fans, softies, and LPS), Nitrates were very high 80 ppm, P04 5.0+ within' 4 weeks nitrates were within 20ppm, 8 weeks Nitrate 20ppm po4 .05, 12 weeks Nitrate below 10 ppm Po4 .05 - that's when things went south.......
I started noticing brown bacteria growing all over the rocks, coraline algae started dying, corals started dying, red slime algae was all over under the sand bed. after 16 weeks with Nitrate below 10 and po4 .05 - marine ICK on 90% of my stock, coraline completely gone, Red Slime was now my chief de-nitrifying bacteria, nitrates and phosphates pretty much disappeared but so did my fish and corals - the tank was Nuked. 50% of my livestock died leaving me with a tank full of ammonia and nitrite - The tank went full circle from early maturity back to the beginning.
What went wrong? Simple answer, organic carbon dosing works for mature stable low nutrient tanks. Adding 15 fish isn't low nutrient, feeding new growing corals daily isn't LNS either. Adding to the cuc, adding fish, adding corals, adding inverts, adding anemones, etc... increases the bioload. The higher the bioload the more Vodka to lower Nitrate and po4 eventually leading to overdose. Had my stock been set and appropriate for a LNS corals and inverts established things might have been different but new systems are exactly that, new systems with (in my case) a high level of TDS.
After the holocaust I went a different route, GFO and 6 units Chempure elite. It took quite a few GFO changes to remove the Po4, tested every 4 days when po4 came back and it does, I swapped out the GFO til' it was completely gone. The Chempure soaked up the Nitrate really quickly and should be good for like 6 mo. Purgien is another tried and true route. I also run a carbon reactor- it helped clear up alot of the dead bacteria build up on the rocks which is still present several months later. I do have coraline again with no additives, Ick is gone, corals were replaced and growing health for the most part. Red slime's gonna be a bugger to get out but it is slowly dissappearing.
Just wanted to give you another persons experience with Vodka, and not the upbeat magic cure all some of the websites will lead you to believe.
really go to say, you have a nice build there. also wondering how are your lights working out? I have T5 now and planning on switching to LED's. real good post there as well otherone, I also have media reactors with GFO and carbon, also do a 5% water change weekly. parameters are real good. water crystal clear and corals growing good along with coraline algae.
Great looking out Oth. Especially on the Chempure elite.
Yeah I am dosing very very slow. My stock is extremely low in this 135 atm, so I am still experimenting. It might come down to me simply not having enough live rock to be honest. I am at 125+- lbs on a 135 tank with 20g+- of sump water. LFS is having a huge sale end of the month, maybe I will fill the fuge with more rock...
Ed, I have zero complaints with these LEDs. I am confident they will support anything I can throw in the tank. Once I get my nitrates down to 5+- I will try a few SPS frags up top. I have coralline popping up everywhere....even in my fuge....which as I am finding, is good and bad. Scraping the glass every week etc....and now its starting on the sand, which is like trying to remove hardened icing on a cake....lol heck I might just let it grow on the sand. If I blast anymore water flow down there my anemones will pay the price....
Yeah I am dosing very very slow. My stock is extremely low in this 135 atm, so I am still experimenting. It might come down to me simply not having enough live rock to be honest. I am at 125+- lbs on a 135 tank with 20g+- of sump water. LFS is having a huge sale end of the month, maybe I will fill the fuge with more rock...
Ed, I have zero complaints with these LEDs. I am confident they will support anything I can throw in the tank. Once I get my nitrates down to 5+- I will try a few SPS frags up top. I have coralline popping up everywhere....even in my fuge....which as I am finding, is good and bad. Scraping the glass every week etc....and now its starting on the sand, which is like trying to remove hardened icing on a cake....lol heck I might just let it grow on the sand. If I blast anymore water flow down there my anemones will pay the price....
thanks
I have got about 220 lbs live rock, same size tank and 40 gal sump. be careful adding the extra live rock. I would almost cure it first and add it slowly. what kind of light do you have in your sump?
I have got about 220 lbs live rock, same size tank and 40 gal sump. be careful adding the extra live rock. I would almost cure it first and add it slowly. what kind of light do you have in your sump?
