Jestersix

Bumbling newbie's 65g mixed reef

Kmooresf said:
You know, a reactor is (IMO) the most efficient way to run carbon. It also has the added bonus of being able to add GFO to it as well. However throwing a bag of carbon in a high flow area of the sump will definitely work. So if your trying to keep to a budget, you can always add a reactor later.
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Thanks. I am trying to keep costs down, but I'll probably need a reactor in the future anyway, right? The way I'm trying to think about that is, in the long run I'll save money by avoiding obsolete purchases now. So, I guess I'll buy a reactor. Question, can I combine carbon and GFO in the same reactor, or will I need two?
 
If I understand correctly, you can mix the two. I run them in separate chambers, but they are plumbed together. I have a small ball valve T'd off my primary return pump. Easy to adjust the flow. If you get a separate pump for the reactor, I recommend something that has adjustable flow. Prolly in the 100gph range.
 
Kmooresf said:
If I understand correctly, you can mix the two. I run them in separate chambers, but they are plumbed together. I have a small ball valve T'd off my primary return pump. Easy to adjust the flow. If you get a separate pump for the reactor, I recommend something that has adjustable flow. Prolly in the 100gph range.
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I plumbed in a gate valve (closed off now) for just this purpose. I actually forgot about it until just now when I started thinking about needing to order another pump, and trying to figure out where the heck I would put it. :D

So, I think you recommended two little fishies. Is this the one you meant?

http://www.marinedepot.com/Two_Litt...rs-Two_Little_Fishies-TL4311-FIFRISPR-vi.html
 
DeeAnnMG said:
I plumbed in a gate valve (closed off now) for just this purpose. I actually forgot about it until just now when I started thinking about needing to order another pump, and trying to figure out where the heck I would put it. :D

So, I think you recommended two little fishies. Is this the one you meant?

http://www.marinedepot.com/Two_Litt...rs-Two_Little_Fishies-TL4311-FIFRISPR-vi.html
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reactors are very simplistic. The two little fishies is probably sufficient for what you need. I would also look at the BRS reactors. They are probably a little better quality, and actually the same price, or a bit cheaper. They also have a dual (one chamber for carbon and one for gfo) for 60 bucks. Thats a pretty good deal.
 
Yesterday or the day before I shifted the position of the one piece of live rock (purchased from my LFS), and today my dry rock is showing more color. I think the LR's previous location may not have had the best flow. In the picture below, the LR is the topmost piece on the left hand side, and the new "color" is the brownish stuff in the lower middle section of the pic. I'm not sure, but that brownish color isn't what I'm supposed to be aiming for, right?



Also, now that the LR is front and center (or maybe it's just more obvious now) I'm noticing a lot more about it than before. I see some pretty encrusted pink and purple, which is good, right? But I also see some fuzzy red, and a tiny bit of fuzzy green (very top, left side of pic). That isn't good, right? Should I get that LR out of my tank?

 
A bit hard to tell from the pics, but in my opinion:
The brownish stuff is most likely diatom algae. Normal, and that will pass fairly quickly. Ignore it.
Getting pink Coraline that fast is really good. Perhaps even unusually good on new rock like that. :cool:
The fuzzy red is not great, that is Cyano bacteria. Not unusual though. Check those phosphates.
You may want to vacuum-siphon it off.
The fuzzy green is probably normal algae. No worries unless it gets bad.
 
rygh said:
A bit hard to tell from the pics, but in my opinion:
The brownish stuff is most likely diatom algae. Normal, and that will pass fairly quickly. Ignore it.
Getting pink Coraline that fast is really good. Perhaps even unusually good on new rock like that. :cool:
The fuzzy red is not great, that is Cyano bacteria. Not unusual though. Check those phosphates.
You may want to vacuum-siphon it off.
The fuzzy green is probably normal algae. No worries unless it gets bad.
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All of the fuzzy stuff, and the encrusted red and pink (coraline?) is only on the live rock that I bought at my LFS (bought one small piece to seed my tank). I see none of that on my "dry rock" yet. The only thing on my dry rock is the brown coloration (diatom I guess).
 
DeeAnnMG said:
Is may tank ready for the trochus? My ammonia and nitrites are at zero, and nitrates at 20. Phosphate seems to be at zero also.
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Sure.
But algae will be an ongoing issue those Nitrate levels. You need to work on that.
For now, just water changes, and keep an eye on them.
Long term solutions : Water changes, less food, deep sand bed, algae scrubber, biopellets, sulphur denitrators, and so on.
 
I got a Hannah phosphate checker today and found out that I definitely have phosphates. My reading today was 0.27. That's high, right? I'll do a water change this week.
 
It has been forever since I've updated my journal, but I haven't been idle. I set up a small 10g quarantine tank. All I'm waiting for to finish that up is a nano Hydor power head. The QT has been filled with water and running a filter for a couple of weeks, but I didn't seed it with anything. A guy at the LFS suggested I cycle the QT with a couple of small damsels. He said that I could buy them, bring them home to cycle my QT, then return them to the store for a full refund. I thought about doing that, but everything I've read says that cycling with fish is cruel. So, no fish.



I also did a big (~40%) water change after that 0.27 phosphate reading, and threw in a bag of Phosgaurd while I waited for my GFO reactor. That got the phosphate down to 0.16. But today my BRS media reactor finally came in! YAY! So I'm hoping for lower numbers in the next few days. I'm running both carbon and GFO in it. The reactor was a piece of cake to install. I actually have it plumbed to my return pump. Here's a picture of the reactor, with the plumbing coming off the red gate valve



Another thing I did was start running my skimmer. There's nothing in my DT yet, but my nitrates are too high (20) and I'm hoping the skimmer will help get those numbers down. Here's a picture of the cute little Cad Lights PLS-100 (on the far right of the shot).



Oh, and the big thing I've been working on is setting up my Reef Angel. That has taken up quite a bit of time, but I've learned a little (a very little) about writing code. I want to learn a lot more though because you can do some really amazing things with this little gadget. Here are a couple of pictures of the sump area (where my RA lives) which show the last thing I've been working on, organization. If anyone has any tips on dealing with the spiderweb of cords, I would be eternally grateful to hear them.



 
Looking good. Things are really packed in there.
Thoughts:
If possible, move the reef angel head unit outside the sump area. It is not sealed against the elements.
Plus, you will probably want to glance at it often, to check stats, without opening up sump.
Regarding cables: The velcro based ties are nice. Label the plugs on each cable! They get tangled,
and it helps to know which one you need to plug/unplug. And in particular, label the plugs
carefully that go in the relay box. You do not want to swap ATO and Alk for example.
 
great pics!

i'm going to follow rygh's advice and move my RA and whatever I can out of the sump area. I like how it's all contained therein, but I'm afraid of things getting too wet/moist.
 
Side note: That was not really meant as a statement specific to RA. I think most controllers are not sealed,
so an issue if you put them in a sump close to your skimmer.
 
It's a great point. I do need to move the RA head unit to a more visible spot. Also, I bet if I moved the relay box to the outside back wall of the stand, the cables would be less of an issue. I actually do have them all labeled, but need a different labeling method. My current labels are falling of the cords. One last thing I need to install is an ATO, and there isn't much space for that just now. Maybe with all the cables out... Anyway, I'm hoping to find a nice one at Reef-A-Palooza. :D I'm super excited to attend that, and BAP over the next month.
 
There is never enough space!! Even for me, where equipment is in the garage...

Does this make you feel better as far as cord mess??
You will notice I did not give advice on how to fix that part. :)

Note my "fancy" labeling : Masking tape wrapped around cord + permanent marker.
plumbing2.JPG
 
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