kinetic Reefer 170
- Thread starter kinetic
- Start date
kinetic
Supporting Member
October 23:
October 23 after 30 gallon water change:
October 24 around 7pm. 24-ish hours after water change and running 9watt UV:
October 25 (today), at 11am:
It's basically crystal clear now, two days after a huge water change + UV sterilizer. I'm going to leave the UV on for the week, and then take it offline to see what's up. I'll be doing small 5% water changes every other day and testing all parameters just in case.
I think a few factors helped:
1. No more dosing of anything (a week ago)
2. Gigantic water change (30g is a significant amount for my system)
3. UV Sterilizer
4. Maybe bacteria bloom was already on its way out?
Let's cross fingers that this is the end of the weeklong haze. It could be argued I could have waited a bit longer to see if it went away on its own without a UV, but hey, it worked?
October 23 after 30 gallon water change:
October 24 around 7pm. 24-ish hours after water change and running 9watt UV:
October 25 (today), at 11am:
It's basically crystal clear now, two days after a huge water change + UV sterilizer. I'm going to leave the UV on for the week, and then take it offline to see what's up. I'll be doing small 5% water changes every other day and testing all parameters just in case.
I think a few factors helped:
1. No more dosing of anything (a week ago)
2. Gigantic water change (30g is a significant amount for my system)
3. UV Sterilizer
4. Maybe bacteria bloom was already on its way out?
Let's cross fingers that this is the end of the weeklong haze. It could be argued I could have waited a bit longer to see if it went away on its own without a UV, but hey, it worked?
kinetic
Supporting Member
Yeah it's been stressful. I guess I shouldn't worry too much, but I was looking at it all day and shaking my head. Moving on!
kinetic
Supporting Member
I got the BRS Tonga Plate dry rock last weekend, and placed them into a tub of RO/DI with a pump. 4 days later, and I decided to check phosphates to see if they were leeching anything. I just tested, 142ppb! Holy crap that's a lot from some dead/dry rock right? But this is in pure RO/DI, so is it accurate? My Hanna ULR checker is a "MARINE" checker.
Changed out all the water with 5 gallons of new RO/DI. I'm going to test again tomorrow and see how much phosphates it's leeching out. If it keeps coming, should I grab a bottle of BIOSPIRA or Dr. Tim's to try to cycle it out of the rock faster? Or just let it soak in RO/DI and a pump for a few weeks?
Changed out all the water with 5 gallons of new RO/DI. I'm going to test again tomorrow and see how much phosphates it's leeching out. If it keeps coming, should I grab a bottle of BIOSPIRA or Dr. Tim's to try to cycle it out of the rock faster? Or just let it soak in RO/DI and a pump for a few weeks?
Last edited:
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Just run GFO to deal with the phosphates, don't stock the tank anymore, feed less, eventually you'll get on top of any phosphate leaching out.
kinetic
Supporting Member
Sounds good. I think I'll just keep cycling the water out with my display tank's water changes until the phosphates stop leeching. Then I can just save on RO/DI water and don't have to worry about dripping lathenum... unless you think that would help pull out the phosphates from the rock faster?
Hey Mike, you probably missed it. This is just in a bucket with the three new pieces of rock (5 lbs) and RO/DI. My actual tank is reading 0 ppb phosphates (which is a whole other problem). I wonder if adding one of these rocks will actually helpfully bring up my phosphate levels in the DT =P
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Yup Lanthium chloride works wonders because the rate of diffusion is related to how saturated (or not) the fluid it is immersed in is, and if you get it out of the water then it leaches out of the rock fasters.
kinetic
Supporting Member
Hmm, I don't have any filter socks handy unfortunately, or fish in this tub. It's literally RO/DI, rock, in a rubbermaid tub. Can I just dose it and wait it out?
When I'm done, I guess I should just vinegar the tub and let it dry in the sun for a few days just in case?
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Here's a good video to watch regarding it.
Should be able to let it simply precipitate to the ground though.
Should be able to let it simply precipitate to the ground though.
rygh
Guest
Oh, I thought it was in your display tank.
Should be fine.
kinetic
Supporting Member
Updates:
Neptune VDM
Got the VDM installed to change the flow of my ReefOcto VarioS-4 return to setup feed cycles for anti-back siphoning and to see if I can get away with not needing to turn off my skimmer. Also good for fine tuning the return for the herbie style drain. The Red Sea drain valve isn't very good, so I'm just going to use the fine tuning from the Apex to get it nailed. I have a few issues right now. If you are an Apex genius, please help!
Slow ramp over a minute after feeding
------
Ramp
Ramp Time: 1
Start Intensity: 20
End Intensity: 64
------
Profile: VarioS_Slow
This slows the flow down a lot, but not standstill
------
Ramp
Ramp Time: 1
Start Intensity: 10
End Intensity: 10
------
Profile: VarioS_Stop
This stops the flow to a standstill
------
Ramp
Ramp Time: 1
Start Intensity: 6
End Intensity: 6
------
Return outlet code:
------
Fallback ON
Set ON
------
Variable Speed code:
------
Fallback ON
Set VarioS_Ret
If FeedA 000 Then VarioS_Slow
If FeedB 000 Then VarioS_Stop
------
Neptune AFS
In anticipation of being out of town A LOT for work and Tahoe, I'm getting my AFS setup. It's currently setup to feed twice a day, on the lowest quantity setting, with one rotation. Once at 11:00 and once at 20:00. My lights come on around 10:30 and dims around 22:30, so I figure that might be a good spread. I might adjust the amount to come out a bit more, but we'll see how this goes for now. The fish eat up the food pretty quick. It's a mix of Sustainable Aquatics pellets and ON Reef Flakes.
I don't actually go into FeedA or FeedB modes, since I have the feeding station setup. I can leave everything full blast.
The Circus
The clowns have been getting along quite well. The mocha gladiators don't bother any of the other clowns at all, other than inspecting them all and sometimes body checking them, but never nipping or chasing. One of the fancy white gladiators is a bit larger than the rest, and he does chase around all the other small males a bit, and tries to nip. I see a few bottom fins nipped on the small males, so I'm considering selling the larger fancy white gladiator if he keeps staying aggressive. I'll wait a few more days to see how things are.
I notice that everyone waits for the mocha gladiators (the largest bonded pair) to finish eating before going into the feeding ring. Pretty interesting.
Skimmer: NYOS Quantum 120
Swapped out the Simplicity 120 DC skimmer for a NYOS Quantum 120.
Build quality: The NYOS is much heavier, so I don't need to hold down the skimmer body while adjusting things. The plastic/acrylic seems a bit thinner than the Simplicity, which isn't great. Feels like I could squeeze the cup hard enough when unscrewing to crack it. Otherwise, build quality is good.
Sound: The NYOS is pretty quiet, but still loud. I guess I'm just being overly sensitive or have too high of standards for sound. The good thing is, the NYOS has a deep low hum, rather than the louder medium pitched sound of the Simplicity. Same decibels, but different pitch.
Performance: The Simplicity had to be tuned to skim extremely wet. I think it was just too oversized for the tank / sump water level. I had to close the wedge pipe completely and set the air silencer to produce fewer bubbles to get things to reach the cup. Not terrible, but just felt like it wasn't a good fit. The NYOS quantum has a much larger range, and a very nice fine tuning for the wedge pipe. I'm about halfway closed on the threads and it's skimming a bit darker than the Simplicity after a week of break in. I'll probably keep letting it skim wet for awhile, and tune it down a bit.
Overall: Happy with the NYOS! I'm going to stick with it. I heard Royal Exclusive is coming out with a really tiny Bubble King at some point. Might look into that and swap this out if that one is even quieter. I like tinkering (might not be good for the tank...), but I LOVE quiet. So I'll try to stop tinkering with stuff, but if I can find a quieter skimmer, I'll go for it.
Photos of it after I cleaned the cup today:
Neptune VDM
Got the VDM installed to change the flow of my ReefOcto VarioS-4 return to setup feed cycles for anti-back siphoning and to see if I can get away with not needing to turn off my skimmer. Also good for fine tuning the return for the herbie style drain. The Red Sea drain valve isn't very good, so I'm just going to use the fine tuning from the Apex to get it nailed. I have a few issues right now. If you are an Apex genius, please help!
- I setup a profile that sets Ramp intensity to 64%. But my Apex dashboard reads 38% intensity. If I set it to 60%, it shows 42%. It's almost showing the opposite +2%. What's going on?
- After feeding, this percentage is way off, and the flow is much lower than intended. In order for me to dial it back to, in this case, "38%" reading on the dashboard, I have to ramp it up to 70% for a few minutes, and then back down to 64%. What's going on? Should I change my profile to ramping down from 70% to 64% instead of just having it at 64% to start?
Slow ramp over a minute after feeding
------
Ramp
Ramp Time: 1
Start Intensity: 20
End Intensity: 64
------
Profile: VarioS_Slow
This slows the flow down a lot, but not standstill
------
Ramp
Ramp Time: 1
Start Intensity: 10
End Intensity: 10
------
Profile: VarioS_Stop
This stops the flow to a standstill
------
Ramp
Ramp Time: 1
Start Intensity: 6
End Intensity: 6
------
Return outlet code:
------
Fallback ON
Set ON
------
Variable Speed code:
------
Fallback ON
Set VarioS_Ret
If FeedA 000 Then VarioS_Slow
If FeedB 000 Then VarioS_Stop
------
Neptune AFS
In anticipation of being out of town A LOT for work and Tahoe, I'm getting my AFS setup. It's currently setup to feed twice a day, on the lowest quantity setting, with one rotation. Once at 11:00 and once at 20:00. My lights come on around 10:30 and dims around 22:30, so I figure that might be a good spread. I might adjust the amount to come out a bit more, but we'll see how this goes for now. The fish eat up the food pretty quick. It's a mix of Sustainable Aquatics pellets and ON Reef Flakes.
I don't actually go into FeedA or FeedB modes, since I have the feeding station setup. I can leave everything full blast.
The Circus
The clowns have been getting along quite well. The mocha gladiators don't bother any of the other clowns at all, other than inspecting them all and sometimes body checking them, but never nipping or chasing. One of the fancy white gladiators is a bit larger than the rest, and he does chase around all the other small males a bit, and tries to nip. I see a few bottom fins nipped on the small males, so I'm considering selling the larger fancy white gladiator if he keeps staying aggressive. I'll wait a few more days to see how things are.
I notice that everyone waits for the mocha gladiators (the largest bonded pair) to finish eating before going into the feeding ring. Pretty interesting.
Skimmer: NYOS Quantum 120
Swapped out the Simplicity 120 DC skimmer for a NYOS Quantum 120.
Build quality: The NYOS is much heavier, so I don't need to hold down the skimmer body while adjusting things. The plastic/acrylic seems a bit thinner than the Simplicity, which isn't great. Feels like I could squeeze the cup hard enough when unscrewing to crack it. Otherwise, build quality is good.
Sound: The NYOS is pretty quiet, but still loud. I guess I'm just being overly sensitive or have too high of standards for sound. The good thing is, the NYOS has a deep low hum, rather than the louder medium pitched sound of the Simplicity. Same decibels, but different pitch.
Performance: The Simplicity had to be tuned to skim extremely wet. I think it was just too oversized for the tank / sump water level. I had to close the wedge pipe completely and set the air silencer to produce fewer bubbles to get things to reach the cup. Not terrible, but just felt like it wasn't a good fit. The NYOS quantum has a much larger range, and a very nice fine tuning for the wedge pipe. I'm about halfway closed on the threads and it's skimming a bit darker than the Simplicity after a week of break in. I'll probably keep letting it skim wet for awhile, and tune it down a bit.
Overall: Happy with the NYOS! I'm going to stick with it. I heard Royal Exclusive is coming out with a really tiny Bubble King at some point. Might look into that and swap this out if that one is even quieter. I like tinkering (might not be good for the tank...), but I LOVE quiet. So I'll try to stop tinkering with stuff, but if I can find a quieter skimmer, I'll go for it.
Photos of it after I cleaned the cup today: