Dales (HUSKY_1) 92 corner build

[Husky_1]

Tracy,
Thanks for the kind words, Rachel and Justin are doing great.

[Husky_1]

Have not done too much to keep this build thread alive. I figured I would share in my adventure over the last few months.

In February, the PBT got ICH. Unfortunately I lost it, the solarensis and the filamented flasher. While everything was fighting, I started way over feeding the tank. In addition to overfeeding, my Phosban reactor stopped processing water, the pump got too much Alk deposits on it. With the death of a few fish, overfeeding and no Phosban I started getting Hair Algae. I thought it was under control at first but kept on spreading. My nitrates have always been .2 or less, but my phosphate shot up to around .2 (readable) on a crappy test kit, which to means I had a P04 problem considering how much uptake the HA was using.

Over the last month or so I have been on a mission to get rid of the Hair Algae, without multiday lights off cycles. The good news is I think I am finally keeping this stuff at bay and is starting to recede. It’s amazing what proper husbandry can do . To help rid my tank of nutrients, I cut the feedings way back again to once every other day. I also went on a mission to get any detritus in my tank removed; running a BB this is an absolute must that I was slacking at. My first attempts included adding filter material to the outflow of my cl, while simultaneously using power heads to blow off rocks. This worked well, but off course cut down my flow. I decided to pull and old HOB filter out, to use to help clean up the water column more. With my canopy setup I can only run this temporarily because the HOB filter has to sit on the front glass, which is fine because I do not need to do this all of the time. The other thing that I did was bought a Sureflow 1600 kit for the MJ1200, and then I pointed the 2100gph straight down to the back bottom of the tank. I hate power heads in the tank, but this is a fundamental step I need, and at the price point it cannot be beat. The water flow is really noticeable from behind all of my rocks, so I know its doing the trick. My last thing was to clean my sump, this was done last weekend. Finally my P04 levels are back down to undetectable on a Saliferts kit (Yes I know I really need to get a Hanna) which tells me at least I am at an equilibrium, but seeing some of the HA die off, I am hopefully that I am on the downhill portion of the fight. Oh yeah, I should mention that raising Mg to 1600 did not work on this stuff.

On to happier news: I found it absolutely amazing that while my fish and rocks were either perishing or getting covered in HA the system went being relatively nutrient poor, to having the algae, my frags started colored up better, and started growing more. Since I did not want to change anything with my fish for a few months, and my current frags were doing well, I would go ahead and get some more coral frags. They seem to be doing well. Over the past month and a half, I am happy with the growth of the frags that I bought, and now that my tanks N03 and P04 are more under control, they are starting to lighten up again (which is not necessarily what I am looking for since they were never really brown, just nice blues/greens)

Anyway, I am now considering running a carbon/bacteria driven system. I was looking at starting a hybrid system using bits and pieces from everywhere. However after research, cost comparisons, and taking into consideration R&D and support, I think I am going to go with a full Zeovit system. I am really sick of not being able to feed my fish, I want fish that are fat and happy, I do not want HA, and I want my corals to have good growth and colors. To me, the bacteria systems seem to be the way to go.

Running an ultra low nutrient system does require a little more work, and there is the matter of now adding AA’s and other coral foods back to the water column. Before starting the system, I have to get my MG back down to 1300 or so, and after I upgraded my CA test kit to a Saliferts, I found my CA was 520ppm which is 100ppm higher than I originally thought. I will order my Potassium test kit this weekend along with some K Strong. Luckily my Alk and Salinity are at NSW levels .

Anyway, sorry for the long winded post, but since this is my journal; I really needed to catch up. Here are some pics of the frags when I first got them. I will post some updated pictures soon.

This one is not actually a new frag, but I liked the pic. It is something I have had since December/November, I picked it up from a local guys and he called it the Ora Blue green tort


Green slimer, behind it is a blue tenius, I did not get any good pictures of the tenius so I am listing it here. I do not think the picture did the GS justice, as it highlights its one side that was face down for a bit before I bought it.


Look at the one in the center, Oregon Blue Tort .


Blue Mille


This picture was to focus on the sunset monti on the right. If you look hard enough all the way to the left there is also 30000 leagues lokani that I could not get a better pic of.


Pink Millie, once again another coral I did not get a good pic of was the rainbow granulose, which is in the background
[/B][/QUOTE]

[Husky_1]

Well it has been a long time since I sposted in here, thought I would give a quick update. For my purpose I should really use this thread more..

As mentioned in my last post, I did end up going with bacteria driven system. After researching I chose Zeovit based on the amount of support, I started in June. I cannot say that my HA issues have been significantly better, but my corals seem to enjoy it, and now I am feeding my fish 2-3x day versus 2-3 per week. The fish that are in the tank now seem to be much happier. The algae is still present, and I plan on giving Zeo until January to fix the issue. Of course measured Nitrate and Phosphate are 0, I skim wet, my RODI is 0 tds/phosphate and I change the filter socks out every 2-3 days.

The other major happenings in my tank are:
1. I ended up getting a bunch of browned/STN/RTN corals from a local reefer, and have been nursing them back. I will show some before and after pictures later.
2. I ended up pulling out my closed loop and opted for 3 mj mods + the return. Basically I had a leak in the pump and the ball valve was frozen...Someday I will go for a more elegant choice like Vortech's or the new Tunze powerheads.

I will try and get some pics up soon, but here is my latest addition. I never wanted a rabbit fish, but started thinking about getting an algae grazer (tang, foxface, etc). After looking around I decided on one of these, and they just happen to have it at Exotic Aquatic. He is turning into one of my favorite fish, since he will eat out of my hands..In this picture, taken on 9/25, he was in my tank for about 3 weeks. He will eat all kinds of food, except sheets of algae, and grazes on the rocks more an more.

[ReefWreak]

Thanks for the update.

I always love those rabbit fishes. I just have to hesitate cause I don't want to have to take care of or worry about any more fish. Great looking guy though.

Good luck on the constant battle against the GHA!

[PaulieWalnuts]

looks good!

[mkarston]

Wow, that fish is gorgeous! What type is it?

... I'm glad you didn't let the CL disaster get you down...

[Husky_1]

Hey Eric,
Thanks for the word, I can imagine that you have to really becareful with your bioload given that you are away a lot of the time.

Hey Craig,
Yeah, the CL "incident" got me thinking, but in the end I get too much enjoyment. The GHA, is a PITA thought, and I am really confused at this point. I can only hope that the stuff is leeching from the rocks and eventually will be spent.

I agree that it has to be one of the best looking rabbit fish, personally I put it up there with some way more expensive fish for looks. As far as I can tell the fish is a Barred Rabbitfish (Siganus doliatus ), originally I thought it was a two barred (Siganus virgatus), but noticed that the two barred typically had blue/yellow spots, and not stripes. They are "reef" safe for SPS, but have been known to work on Zoa's and LPS if not fed enough. With my Trio of Carberryi anthias needing food all day and algae in the tank this guy seems to be ok so far.

[mdavis735]

is that an oceanic tank?just curious.i have an oceanic 92 gallon corner tank.i really like it so far.can you post some new fts sometime?since it is now over a year old.also what light bulb are you currently using?i have a 250 de metal halide pendant that i wanna replace soon with the lumenarc reflector for this bulb.i think that would make the light way more efficient.i am providing actinic with 2 24 inch 2 bulb fixtures.each fixture has a uvl super actinic and a geisseman true actinc.think soon i will replace the true actinic with an actinic plus.unless someone has a better suggestion.i really like the super actinics and they are new.anyway with only the 250 de halide are you getting good growth and color?i was concerned about that not being enough light for this tank,but everything is growing like crazy.

[Husky_1]

Hi Mdavis,
The tank is an AGA, not sure if they are the same exact or not. I will post my FTS soon. As for lights, I am using a Lumenarc mini, ice cap ballast and 14k phoenix, to be honest, I think its a little too strong directly underneath the light. As for actinic, I use 2x24W Geissman Actinic Plus and 1x39w uvl 75.25. The red in the 75.25 helps counteract the blue from the phoenix 14k and the geissman, without being too much purple.

[mdavis735]

thats cool.i think i will buy the lumenarc mini and maybe a reeflux 12,000k bulb.i have a hamilton 14,000k right now.it seems pretty good.i have just been curious about the reeflux.i had 175 watt moguls before and really liked them.as far as the lumenarc. . . . are they the ones that can either use a 250 or 400 watt?that would be cool because i could get a ballast later and upgrade bulb if i wanted more light.

[Husky_1]

I am pretty sure it allows for both 250 and 400 watt..

[gasman059]

Husky how did I missed your build thread!
good job. Buddy.

[Husky_1]

Thanks Manny, I am surprised to see that you found it now. As with all of them, this build has been a real learning experience. The next one should have less hiccup's....

[Bernie21]

I love the Rabbit, I believe Foxes/ Rabbits are some of the most personable fish & yet they are extremely underrated as reef fish!! A FTS would be nice, keep us posted. As I mentioned before, thanks, your thread has helped my build immensly.

[Husky_1]

I saw that SirJohn bumped his thread, so I figured I would give a status.


A few weeks ago, I decided to rebuild the tank. All of the water has been taken out, and the livestock is being stored in a smaller tank, with my corals (now reduced to frags) being housed in someone elses tank. The main reason for the tear down was because I could not control the hair algae. After more than a year of fighting it, using every known method, this was my last resort.

The good news is, the rebuild is almost done.

Here are the changes:
-New Skimmer - BK Mini 160
Going from BB to Sand - for aesthetics, Alk and bacteria buffering capabilities
-Increased flow through my sump - from 400gph to about 1000gph (pump will handle about 1400 gph, but I am going to tee off of it to feed reactors)
-Reconfigure sump to have only two sections, allows more room for skimmer and new pump. I had a small fuge section in the old design that I no longer need.
-New light-bulb configuration
-New Aquascaping, reducing rocks by a lot.
-Rocks were all bleached and acid bathed twice.

Anyway, I will post some pictures as time goes on.

Here are some pics of the aquascaping before I secured them together.