Alex’s IM 150 EXT

[Alexander1312]

Also, will start using this one now. Had to wait for 10 days or more but it finally arrived. I can dose up to 3 ml but will limit it to 2 ml today.

Starting point: 22 ppm of nitrate. Let’s see what it does.

Elimin8 DIN 500 mL | Captiv8Aquaculture

Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate Control for Recirculating Seawater Systems; Improves Water Clarity and Light Transmission. Homogenous liquid suspension of heterotrophic microorganisms, particularly effective at reducing dissolved inorganic nitrogen compounds. Reduces ammonia by up to 50% within 24...

www.captiv8aquaculture.com

 

[Alexander1312]

Nitrate / Cyanobacteria update.
While I am making good progress on the LCA / Dino front (strong diatom bloom now, and 2-3 LCAs per slide), the cyano issues bother me now even more. I do believe my cyano is (also) caused by too high nitrates in relation to lower phosphates (relative). The reason for this could be the result of (prematurely) nitrate dosing at one point. Also, trace elements are still not in balance after switching to balling light (from Kalkwasser and individual trace elements dosing). My goal is to aim for 100:1 ratio of Nitrate and Phosphate (within acceptable tolerance, +10/-10 as recommended by Fauna Marin, i.e., 90-110:1 nitrate vs phosphate).

So far Elimin8 DIN above did literally nothing to Nitrate. After chatting with Chris Woods/Captiv8, the reason could be / is that my tank is carbon deficient, and/or that the ozone will impact the efficacy of the product. I will be adding their carbon once it arrives.

I have not found great advice yet in all the well-known books I have, will keep reading. The little booklet, from Julian Sprung: Algae, A Problem Solver Guide does state that I seem to be having the Oscillatoria Cyano, and the following seems to help best for this type:

1. Strong water flow: I have added yesterday two additional XF350 gyres, left and right two on each side next to each other, a total of four now in a random mode. Special thanks to @derek_SR for clarifying some of the key Hydros settings. The work very well now. I also have two MP40s on the backwall. Obviously all of these pumps are not working at max speed, rather around 25-35%. It seems like the strong waterflow prevents growth of this type which is a paper like encrusting tissue.
2. Ozone (surprise ): He is referring to Paletta who has shown that the redox potential management with ozone leads to the elimination of cyano. However, I have read that the ORP probe should be added to the DT, not the sump, as the ORP in the sump might show higher values than what actually arrives in the tank. I have mine in the sump and have not moved this yet.
3. Elevate alkalinity: Not sure about this one, as the reason to increase is a more general algae management tool and I assume he just added this a recommendation for this type of cyano too. The rationale is that high alk combined with calcium dosing leads to precipitation of phosphate, managing algae growth (according to Sprung). Not sure if this resonates.
4. Herbivores: He mentiones several including the fighting conch, blue legged hermit crabs, and some fish (blenny/tang). In Sprungs other book on Inverts, he considers the blue leg hermit effective against cyano. So I will try 20-30 of them, but I am somewhat discouraged by @Darkxerox experience that they do not work. So I am hoping to bring them in masses and the type of cyano I have, that this will potentially have some impact, will see.

Will continue to do more book research on cyano and will update progress.

 

[Adauqua]

You should consider the following if you have not done them yet: siphon the mass on sand, turkey blaster to blow off on rock + let them settle on sand + siphon again. Those help me to get rid of 80-90% of them.
Balance NP 100:1 + Microbacter 7 clean the rest for me.

Last resort is chemical Red Slime RX which I have not tried it yet

 

[Alexander1312]

Update on Algae scraper

I have posted here some questions about scratches on the glass, potentially by the ceramic blade but more likely from inappropriate handling of the scraper (https://www.bareefers.org/forum/thr...g-for-advice-tunze-long-ceramic-blades.35891/)

Some of the great advice I received was the following:

• Consider using a ‘mighty magnet’ instead of the Tunze.
• Do not leave the scraper in the tank after cleaning (I never thought about this).
• Ceramic blades should not be used on its own but only installed on a Tunze scraper.
• Specific instructions by Tunze to only use the scraper length wise, so that sound/debris can fall out easier (another aspect I would have not thought of)

So clearly, it is most likely that my 2-3 scratches on the glass came from wrongly handling the scraper vs the ceramic blades or the Tunze itself.

Still, looked into the Mighty Magnet before and now bought it. And for the first time read the instructions that came with the scraper. Now the price is an issue but in hindsight, I tried different scrapers before and had I just bought this one, it would be similar in price or potentially cheaper. But my main objective is to minimize or eliminate (unlikely) the risk of additional scratches, and this I believe was worth the investment. I also purchased the dozer bags and the cutter bags, but have only used the dozer so far.

My initial reflection is that it is a bit more involved using it, it does feel effective and safer, but it needs to be cleaned after each use, dried and put back into the box it came with (ideally). So it is a bit of a process now vs just doing some quick glass cleaning.

I have bought following type of scraper for my 15 mm glass:

FF-3 for 3/8″ (.95 CM) TO 3/4″ (1.9 CM) - Mighty Magnets Inc.

Add 1/4″ (.65cm) to your aquarium glass thickness when using our Algae dozers to maximize their efficiency. You can always reduce the strength of our magnets with one of our spacers.

mightymagnets.com

 

[Alexander1312]

Getting ready for vacation. Upgrade from 10 gallon ATO to 20 gallon, which should last for two weeks.

 

[DaddyHook]

Getting ready for vacation. Upgrade from 10 gallon ATO to 20 gallon, which should last for two weeks.

View attachment 57294

Did you make that?

 

[Alexander1312]

Did you make that?

I wish I could do that. It is custom built but not by me unfortunately.

 

[Patio]

Make sure to test it at the water level you are leaving for vacation at. Water that high up might create a siphon.

 

[derek_SR]

Make sure to test it at the water level you are leaving for vacation at. Water that high up might create a siphon.

I have a really big/tall ATO and this is absolutely a problem. I have an inline siphon break that I installed JUST below the surface of the ATO where the tubing exits. You can also drill a tiny hole, but of course water squirts out of it - so placement is an issue and if your cat bumps it while on vacay or something you could come home to wet floors

 

[Coral reefer]

I like to zip tie the output of the top of tubing up higher like to plumbing drains or something. If you need something to guide the water where you want it you can easily use a larger gauge pvc pipe that you can slip the ATO tubing into

 

[richiev]

I like to zip tie the output of the top of tubing up higher like to plumbing drains or something. If you need something to guide the water where you want it you can easily use a larger gauge pvc pipe that you can slip the ATO tubing into

I have a really big/tall ATO and this is absolutely a problem. I have an inline siphon break that I installed JUST below the surface of the ATO where the tubing exits. You can also drill a tiny hole, but of course water squirts out of it - so placement is an issue and if your cat bumps it while on vacay or something you could come home to wet floors

can you folks illustrate (or pic) what you're talking about? I'm about to go on vacation and would love the same safeguard. In my case I don't think it'll be a problem b/c I'm using a 20 gallon long aquarium as a reservoir, which is short, but I love redundancy.

 

[Alexander1312]

Make sure to test it at the water level you are leaving for vacation at. Water that high up might create a siphon.

I have a really big/tall ATO and this is absolutely a problem. I have an inline siphon break that I installed JUST below the surface of the ATO where the tubing exits. You can also drill a tiny hole, but of course water squirts out of it - so placement is an issue and if your cat bumps it while on vacay or something you could come home to wet floors

Great advice. Thank you both. I did not think of this issue until last night when reading the red sea ATO instructions which actually highlighted this exact issue. The ATO comes with a siphon which is to be mounted exactly as @derek_SR explained. Will show a picture later of how I have done this for extra scrutiny that this is appropriate.

 

[Alexander1312]

No picture. The ATO container has a tiny leak (!) and cannot be used. Very bad timing immediately before vacation . The siphon worked well though…

 

[dangalang]

No picture. The ATO container has a tiny leak (!) and cannot be used. Very bad timing immediately before vacation . The siphon worked well though…

Damn, perhaps Brute trash can or something similar instead, doesn't need to look pretty while you're away

 

[Coral reefer]

No picture. The ATO container has a tiny leak (!) and cannot be used. Very bad timing immediately before vacation . The siphon worked well though…

I think I have a 20 long. When do you leave? Pm me

 

[Alexander1312]

I think I have a 20 long. When do you leave? Pm me

Thank you very much Mike. I put back the the previous 10 gallon ATO last night since I might not have time to consider alternative option. We will be leaving Sunday morning, and the tank sitter will have to add a few more gallons manually.

Octoaquatics/Matt Coddington/Humblefish vendor, who made the ATO container, will replace it but it will not be delivered before I leave of course.

I will be posting the container in the Pay it Forward section.

 

[DaddyHook]

Thank you very much Mike. I put back the the previous 10 gallon ATO last night since I might not have time to consider alternative option. We will be leaving Sunday morning, and the tank sitter will have to add a few more gallons manually.

Octoaquatics/Matt Coddington/Humblefish vendor, who made the ATO container, will replace it but it will not be delivered before I leave of course.

I will be posting the container in the Pay it Forward section.

Would love to grab it from if available?

 

[Alexander1312]

Would love to grab it from if available?

Sure, you can have it. Just PM or text me.

 

[Alexander1312]

Following my recent face-to-face conversation with Claude Schumacher / Fauna Marin (see post: https://www.bareefers.org/forum/threads/trip-to-germany-reefing.36107/), I am planning to consider the following adjustments when I am back in the US:

• Phasing out of my beloved CO2 scrubber : Claude claims that the BOLUS method (which I have already been doing for several weeks) will eventually allow for self-sustaining higher PH without the need to elevate PH artificially through a CO2 scrubber (or Kalkwasser dripping) for longer-term tank health, lower cost due not needing to use CO2 scrubber media, and a safer setup as discussed previously. He suggested to phase out the CO2 scrubber vs removing it immediately (a mistake many made recently) to have a more gradual impact on PH which would otherwise drop significantly until the expected/promised/hoped for BOLUS effect kicks in.
• Adding carbon back into the tank. I started ozone with the objective of not needing to add carbon due to its adverse impact on trace elements. I knew Claude prefers ozone over UV (did not have time to go over this in more detail since I am already sold on ozone) and he agreed that carbon reduces traces. However, he said that not all carbon removes e.g., iodine (mostly high quality carbon), and the reduction impact on traces can be balanced out in other ways, but carbon should still always been run in a successful reef due to its additional benefits in removing unwanted stuff from the water inlcuding residue from ozone treatment (he had more detail but hard to remember this). Interestingly, he said contrary to common belief, carbon does not lose its main effect after a few days and can be easily kept in for at least a month or potentially even a year (!), unless it is of poor quality. Fauna Marin’s carbon is not sold in the US at the moment but I believe someone stated that the carbon they use is similar or the same as the Avast carbon, but I have also been looking at Polyplab. If anyone has a recommendation for great carbon, please let me know. I will buy some of the Fauna Marin carbon online while still in Germany, and I have used the Red Sea.

 

[Alexander1312]

I was not planning to show my messy sump area in public, but I am curious about views on how much a skimmer should pull out in a given time (given recent events on skimmer usage in general).

This picture is a screenshot taken today from my surveillance camera in the sump. I cleaned and emptied the skimmer cup on June 15, a day before we left for our 14-day vacation, and this is what was pulled out after 12 days.

For those who know this skimmer, the pump speed is set to level 4, and the water level is set at 2.

Feeding during my absence is four times dry food through an autofeeder, and every two days one sheet of seaweed and a portion of frozen food.

Does this look like ok? I recognize it is all about stocking and feeding etc just trying to gauge ball park if this skimmer is potentially not set up well.