New 100gal Reef setup

[PhilTheEel]

Very nice looking setup

[Jerm77]

not much new today. I have had the lights cut back to about 6hrs of lighting. the skimmer is working really good now. the algae growth is about the same. I haven't tried to suction off any the algae, but the algae is pretty much staying on the rocks, hasnt covered the sand or the acrylic as of yet.

[Jerm77]

sorry for the lack of updates, but things are happening rather slowly at this point. no new additions to the setup, only minor changes.

Note: I have begun dosing vodka since Day 17. I started by following the recommendations listed in this article.
Vodka Dosing

Some of the brown algae breakout that started on Day 9 has started to fall away from the live rock.

old pic from day 11 (heaviest bloom, and just before addition of Phos reactor)


Day 18 Pic




One more things has been really bothering me is the "Live"sand I bought. the sand is real fine and it tends to blow around alot. I have used this type of sand before, but only in my 12g Nano - and the blow around really wasn't much of a problem. Is there a heavier sand I can use? Do you think my pumps are blowing too hard (2 X 6160's running at no more that 40% performance)? It's been real Difficult keeping the sand in place - and it tends to cover the rocks. some particles got on my magnet cleaner and have already scratched the inside of my tank.

here are some pictures... any thoughts?

[Jerm77]

Today I am on my 4th day of dosing vodka. I have doubled my dose from .4ml to .8ml.

Today I also noticed that my pump for my RowaPhos reactor was getting bubbles stuck in the intake chamber and stoppin the pump. I found a valve and installed one so I could open the pumps intake and reduce the flow with the valve.
Video of reactor


The bubbles mentioned above are coming from my overflow. I'm thinking I don't exactly have my standpipe built or adjusted right.







Note: Today I also noticed that I'm getting some green algae growth, the brown seems to be dieing off slowly. I'm not sure if this is some coralline or just a green algae. I do see some stringy type green algae, they are single strands like a hair algae, but grow very long. one hair is about 8 inches long.





If anyone has any comments or advice to tackle some of these problems, please post.

thanks,
Jerm

[Jerm77]

Still Dosing at the reccomended .8ml Vodka dose

I had moved my GFO reactor because it was getting alot of bubbles in the pump I also added the valve - I think I have it adjusted where it needs to be now.

The bubbles I was getting in my overflow return chamber was due in part to the filter sock. notice above it was rather brown. I washed it in hot water and bleach and rinsed it well. it seems it was pretty stopped up.


still messing around with the euroreef skimmer. don't think I'll be able to adjust it correctly until I build that shelf for it.

I soaked some dead rock I had in a tap water / bleach solution with powerheads going for 24hrs. I am now drying them out in the sun. I will them let them sit in some R/O water for a couple of days changing at least 50% of the water.


a close up of one of the rocks. these were really great rocks - its very sad that I didn't have the means to save the tank that these belonged to.


some of the grape caulerpa and some Halimeda(wish I could have kept)


some comparison of the algae cycle on my live rock
day 5


day 11


day 12


day 18


day 20


day 22

[buccard]

nice, I am still fighting cyano...looks like you are doing better than i am against the cyano. What do you think made the most difference? How are you dosing the vodka? daily or a drip? looks good.

[Jerm77]

Originally posted by buccard
nice, I am still fighting cyano...looks like you are doing better than i am against the cyano. What do you think made the most difference? How are you dosing the vodka? daily or a drip? looks good.

I have been dosing daily with a syringe, all at once. Plus I really think the phosphorus reactor helped out alot too. I started noticing changes almost the next day from when the reactor was added. I think the combination of the two is the most beneficial.

[Jerm77]

Continuing with the Vodka dose recommendations. today I dosed at 1.3ml.

I have some more algae growing. the green coralline looks to be fading away again. looks like I might have some red hair algae or the dreaded cyano.

I forgot to mention I added a few cleaners to my tank on day 22.

15 Astrea snails.

3 Turbo snails.

12 tiny Blue leg hermits.



Update: New life in tank!! looks to be an explosion of pods(?) I'm guessing they hitch hiked on the snails - I may have gotten some cyano with them too.

sorry for the pic. can't get a good closeup. I promised to take out the d40 once there was life in there - its charging now...


Possible cyano



did the cyano hitch hike on this guy?



and an algae update pic
Day 24

[Jerm77]

Still dosing vodka at 1.3ml. Haven't done a phosphate or nitrate test lately. I need to do one tomorrow.

the pods are everywhere now. they are even thriving in my GFO reactor!!

I spotted a HH on one of my snails today. got another thread going on to see what he is.


the bright red algae (cyano) seems to be fading


but there was a rapid growth of some new algae. looks like a deep red or purple. carpet like. not so hairy.


My filtersock is already clogging up again. I'm going to get to work on my bubble tower.


I also want to build a sandbox to hold a small DSB. but, I understand the surface area is what makes the difference. I think I'll just plant some mangroves in there. its what I really wanted one for anyways


pic of the sump, sandbox, and bubble tower

[Jerm77]

Still dosing at 1.3ml of vodka. no phosphate or nitrate readings taken yet. Ammonia level at or near 0.

on day 28 I added my dead rock. I prepared the rock by with soaking 1 day in bleach and RO water mixture, 3 days of drying out, rinsing with RO water for 24hrs, and they putting it directly in my tank.



I also put together my "bubble tower" and "sand box"



installed- you can also see I built a shelf for the skimmer. I can noewfinally able to adjust it where it needs to be.



I had to make a modification to the overflow on my bubble tower. its was overflowing constantly. I didnt make the tower tall enough. I need to remove the threaded union on the flex pipe - it doesn't fit into the 4x4 area of the tower - it also makes it sit higher than I want, causing bubbles to splash out of the tower.



Note: It took 10lbs of "live sand" to fill about a third of the level I want it at. looks like I'll need another 20lbs. seems like alot of sand.

I also ordered a cleanup crew from reefcleaners.org. this is what they recommended.

Thanks for stopping by www.reefcleaners.org! Here is what I would get for the tank:

100 Dwarf Ceriths - small effective cleaners
27 Nassarius - for now, get more when you fill the wish list
15 Limpets
5 Chitons (Express Mail)
35 Florida Ceriths
22 Blue Leg Hermits (Express Mail)
1 five packs of mangroves
1 chaeto


All the Best,
John Maloney
www.reefcleaners.org

[Lynx113]

Lookin good, it will be nice when you get the rest of the rock in it.

[Jerm77]

yes I need more rock and plan to do some aquascaping. I'm thinking it might be a bit of extra work to aquascape after everything is in the tank. But, I think I'll wait until I get all the rock i need.

[buccard]

The sock seems like a good way to export nutrients...are you worried about removing it?

I was thinking of converting my wet dry to a berlin style or making a sump with a refugium-utilizing a filter sock.

Following your thread is making me want to try vodka myself-I want to give my current techniques a chance-that way I know what worked and what didnt-doing to much too fast could be problematic IMO.

Great detail on your thread-thanks.

[Jerm77]

filtersock...? well... all the filtersock seems to do is strain the water. I really don't like the idea of cleaning a filter every week. it mostly gets clogged up with detritus, algae, and sand. and if I keep killing bacteria living in my filtersock - I hypothesize that my system is going to shock itself IMO - everytime I clean it. I don't really have a way of measuring this without some real bioload - but I guess I'll see soon enough.

I'm pretty much sold on the vodka dosing though. when I get my nitrate monitor replaced - I can give some real results rather than just visuals.

[Jerm77]

Still dosing at the recommended rate per the article. today I dosed at 1.8ml of Vodka


Amonia test: 0 or near 0

Phosphate test: .25-.5mg/L (very hard to tell, light shades of blue are hard to determine)

Nitrate test: .5mg/L !!! (vodka seems to be working)

PH: my meters read variably at 7.8-8.1

Salinity: 51.7 mS or 1.0252 True Specific Gravity

Magnesium, Calcium, Alkalinity : unknown ( need to obtain proper tests )

Note: I have not done a single water change. so far I have only lost a single Astrea snail ( I noticed he was stuck between a rock for a couple of days, I took him out and the next day my Nassarius' were picking at him.) But, I do plan a 20gallon water change this week.

I have added more cleaners to the tank.

about 130 cerith snails

22 blue leg hermits(small) total is 35

27? (didn't count them, but is what i ordered) Nassarius Vibex

added some chaeto and ulva macros

5 red mangroves (soon to be planted in the DSB box)



I also added a pipe organ because of the purple coralline algae on the live rock it was growing on. (pictures with lights off w/ flash *sorry* better pic later)



Have a small diatom bloom on the sand, hopefully my new sand sifters will slow it down



I found out today that my MRC CR2 reactor wasn't properly put together. It was missing a hole on the lid to connect to the second chamber. I bought it 1 1/2 years ago, I notified MRC, and they are on top of things. they are sending me a new lid ASAP.

[crazywesc]

What brand light fixture are you useing? It looks nice.

[Jerm77]

sunlight supply maristar 48"

2 x 250watt 10k ushiro Bulbs
2 x 54 giesmann power chrome pure actinic t-5's

[spleify]

Wow, lots of updates.
First I have to ask why are you vodka dosing? Your tank is so new and you have no corals in there, I am very confused as to why you elected to start vodka dosing.
You really need to test Nitrite and ammonia, then nitrates to see where you are in your cycle. The algae blooms are a good indicator that you are cycling.

Good luck with everything and keep up the good work and updates.

Spleify
I would also suggest you calibrate and confirm that ONE of your PH monitors is working and stick to that ONE. You don't need multiple, especially if you don't know which one is working properly.
The new rock you added will likely cause another small cycle also.
Your filter socks need to be cleaned out every few days, as they will hold food and detritus and nitrates. You will have no ill effect by cleaning them frequently, it will most certainly be beneficial cleaning it more frequently.

[Jerm77]

Originally posted by spleify
Wow, lots of updates.
First I have to ask why are you vodka dosing? Your tank is so new and you have no corals in there, I am very confused as to why you elected to start vodka dosing.
You really need to test Nitrite and ammonia, then nitrates to see where you are in your cycle. The algae blooms are a good indicator that you are cycling.

after reading this article, http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/ ]Vodka Dosing[/URL], my understanding was that adding a carbon source is a good way to facilitate a "decrease in nitrate and phosphate molecules" and "is thought to increase bacterial biomass. For this, vodka addition would result in bacterial growth and reproduction." "Additionally, lower NO3 and PO4 have the added benefit of reduced nuisance algae, both bubble and hair."
I have have yet to read that vodka dosing shouldn't preformed during a "cycle", but my amonia levels are 0 or close to zero. I am experimenting a bit - and I am a firm believer in beneficial bacteria.

Good luck with everything and keep up the good work and updates.

Spleify

Thanks!

I would also suggest you calibrate and confirm that ONE of your PH monitors is working and stick to that ONE. You don't need multiple, especially if you don't know which one is working properly.

I really don't subscribe to what you believe. I buy and sell about 5000 ph meters a year. I don't find them "very" accurate - but, close enough. and I do like to have back-ups. so I like to have a couple around. I was also just testing the many probes I need for my controllers.

The new rock you added will likely cause another small cycle also.
Your filter socks need to be cleaned out every few days, as they will hold food and detritus and nitrates. You will have no ill effect by cleaning them frequently, it will most certainly be beneficial cleaning it more frequently.

I have eliminated the filtersock. will I regret it? I guess I'll find out.

I do plan to test all the parameters before I add any fish or any more corals. this will happen in a couple of days.

and thanks for the heads up and replys!!
the gurgle buster idea really made a huge difference

[spleify]

I m very aware of what vodka dosing is. I just don't really see the point of using it during a cycle on such a new tank, with virtually 0 bioload. Good for you for trying it, but I don't think you will really see any benefits of it.
Why did you pull the filter sock? I don't think you will see any ill effects from pulling it off besides more micro bubbles and build up of detritus in the sump.

Absolutely no offence by this, but just because you sell a lot of PH monitors does not mean you have to use a lot of PH monitors. But what ever floats your boat.

Keep up the great work.

Spleify

[PaulieWalnuts]

i like how you keep a log day by day i am doing the same for my tank and i see it becomes very helpful

[buccard]

Jerm-how bout a full tank shot when you update next? I would like to see the full view.

Good luck!

[Jerm77]

tank shots as requested!

with all lights off


top view w/ lights off



PaulieWalnuts,

yes I agree with you. I find it helpful to record my progress as well.


I'll post some pics with the lights on later

[buccard]

Thanks, looks like you have some really good flow judging from the top view!

Looks nice and clean.

Thanks for the pics.

[Jerm77]

Today I installed a T-5 over my sump for my Macro and Mangroves.
here is a video of the middle chamber Video





Here are some lighted shots of the DT