Drift Monkey

Anyone ever use Prodibio BioClean? Looks like interesting stuff. It's not too expensive, so I may give it a try...

sounds to me like you'd be buying (semimonthly) bacteria that are already forming in your tank for free. unless you are chlorinating you tank regularly you should not need to replenish the bacteria. so, i suppose if it is cheaper than dechlorinator....

Eh, I'd just be using it to seed bacteria to begin with...not sure I'd keep dosing it unless my parameters suggest I'd need to dose again. Just seems like an interesting concept to me...people have had good results fighting off algae and the like with this stuff.

Anyone ever use Prodibio BioClean? Looks like interesting stuff. It's not too expensive, so I may give it a try...

Another quick cycle update:

Day 10:

Ammonia: ~1.0 ppm

Nitrites: > ~.25 ppm < ~.50 ppm

The nitrites are more or less just about .50 ppm. The good news is that it's on its way. The bad news is who knows for how much longer.

I built a little platform for my skimmer tonight. Eggcrate does it again!

I'm betting better at making stuff with this versatile material haha.

Here's the skimmer at its new height (~8").

I made a quick video of the skimmer running. Does this look about right? It seems to be easier to adjust with it raised up a couple of inches. I have the gate set at 2.5...the foam comes up to the bottom of the cup. Is there supposed to be all those microbubbles coming out of the outlet...or is that about right? None of them make it to my display...I'm just wondering.

Any input would be great!

I wish you luck on all your future endeavors. Don't forget to hit me up for some places to eat in Houston (during your trip)!

Nice! In the future, you can try muriatic acid to clean the skimmer. It's wicked strong stuff and I'm afraid of it a little. I have to hold my breath when I open the bottle because the fumes burn.

Muriatic acid is significantly stronger than vinegar. If you're messing the the 30% HCL or higher industrial mixtures, it's a good idea to use protective eyewear as well as a gloves and a chemical face mask or respirator. This stuff can cause some pretty serious damage to skin, eyes, and lungs, and will absolutely destroy any clothing it gets on. No question of how much more effective it is than vinegar or another weak acid.

Also, with any moderately strong acid, make sure you add the acid to the water and not the water to the acid.

I remember chem class...

Nice! In the future, you can try muriatic acid to clean the skimmer. It's wicked strong stuff and I'm afraid of it a little. I have to hold my breath when I open the bottle because the fumes burn. However, using about a 1:10 acid to water ratio does the work of cleaning a skimmer like vinegar does. However, what takes vinegar hours to days to do, the acid can do in 20 minutes. I had used vinegar in the past on my skimmer, but last time I tried acid and it worked SOOO much better

Hell, I shoulda used that on my rubble. Well I kinda liked what the vinegar did, gave me time to mess with the skimmer levels and see how it worked, etc. For future cleanings, I'll look into some muriatic acid!

So I didn't think about this before hand...but leaving the skimmer on vingear water over a long-ish period of time wasn't so kind to the little pump's little sunction cup feet. They're all melty and deformed now but it doesn't seem to overly effect the skimmer.

Speaking of which...she's in my sump now!

Still going crazy with the initial foam/microbubbling and went back to foaming up into the collection cup even with the gate set at 0. I find that if I knock it around the chamber a bit, it loses it sweet spot and doesn't produce much foam/microbubbles. This might related to the suction cups...not sure. Either way, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm hoping it calms down over the next few days.

No microbubbles are making it into my display though. I credit my awesome baffle design!

Day 9:

Ammonia: 1 ppm

Nitrite: > .25 ppm

The ammonia has stayed about the same, but nitrites really picked up over the weekend! Didn't bother to test for nitrates, but things are looking good. I have noticed over the past few days that the display dry rocks has gained a little color. They're slightly brown and not quite so bleach white anymore.

The skimmer settled down some more, but I still have it in vinegar water. Didn't have any time to make saltwater for it tonight...so that'll have to wait till tomorrow.

RO/DI container update: it's about 2/3s full after a weeks time! This should easily last me 2 weeks while I'm vacation early next month (and probably closer to 3 full weeks)!

I tested my parameters again tonight and...

Day 7:

Ammonia: 1 ppm

Nitrite: < .25 ppm

Nitrate: 5 ppm

Woo hoo! Ammonia has taken a drop down to 1 ppm and nitrites are appearing. It seems my interpretation last night of the nitrites being slightly darker than 0 was right. I tested some RO/DI water as a baseline just to confirm - there's def some nitrites in there, albeit a tiny bit. At this point, I went ahead and tested for nitrates. I got what I got yesterday - 5 ppm. Wondering if this was yet another fluke...I tested my RO/DI water and my tank water does, in fact, have nitrates.

Looks like my cycle is on its way after all...although I do wonder if adding the rubble affected anything. Also wondering if the One & Only actually did anything...

Possibly...but I think it may just be because it's vinegar and vinegar water makes tons of foam from what I've read.

From the things I've read about this particular skimmer...it supposedly likes to be in anywhere from 6-10" of water. The bucket level simulates my sump level, ~9.5". I erred to the deeper side because I know I can always build an egg crate structure to lift it up if need be.

I have it running in a bucket of RO/DI + vinegar (to break it in) and it's foaming up quite a bit. I'm a little worried though...even with the dial on 0 it's pushing foam over the top and into the collection cup. I'm not sure if this is because it's in vinegar water or if I should expect it to do this in saltwater.

This is my first skimmer, so honestly...I have no idea what to expect.

So my skimmer finally came in...this time it came quick and in one piece!

This one actually came in a legit box (and not an plain, unmarked one). It was also packed much better. Go figure. All the stuff was in order unlike the last place's which had random bits around the whole box...

Just got it and it's already modded. It hasn't even been plugged in yet. I cut the barbs off the output to create wider flow pattern towards the bubble plate. More on that here.

Here it is, pump in place. I used my trust spyderco knife to hack off the barbed end. It's not that pretty of a cut...but it works. I could clean it up but....meh.

...and here she is all assembled. Ain't she a beaut?

What is the duplex sump eggcrate for?

The idea is for that area to be shaded to allow benthic/cryptic creatures such as fan worms, sponges, tunicates, etc. to grow and populate as an aid to filtration.

I wouldn't even bother testing for NO3 yet. Just keep an eye on ammonia and NO2 and once they're at zero, you're good to go. Wouldn't hurt to add the macros any time assuming you have a light for the fuge.

Right, but I was curious to see if I perhaps I missed the nitrite phase somehow (as unlikely as that could be). I have a clip on light for the fuge...but I need to find a source of clean marcos I suppose. Wouldn't they lower my ammonia levels needed for cycling though?

Depending on the kit you're using, 5 may not even be outside of the margin of error.

API. So, basically, there's no telling.

So I bought egg crate and built the duplex sump.

A small pita, but it works!

I went ahead and put some of the better looking rubble in there. There is still ample room for macros. This sump is really coming together...once my sump is in (tomorrow hopefully) it'll be more or less complete!

Now if it would only cycle...

I tested again tonight.

Day 6:

Ammonia: 3 ppm

Nitrite: 0 ppm

Nitrate: 5 ppm

The nitrite test looked a tinge darker...but it could just me being hopeful. I went ahead and tested nitrates for ****s and giggles and whaddya know? 5ppm. Seems a bit odd...

Just rock? No. Photosynthetic creatures/macroalgae? Yes.

I'm off work today, so I took the rocks out of vinegar and scrubbed/rinsed them again. Much better this time. Rinsed them well tap and dechlored it with some Prime and let it sit for a bit. Filled up each bucket with RO/DI and that's where they're sitting now. My "select piece" bucket will probably make up the majority of what will be in the fuge...the rest will be left to dry in the Texas sun for future uses.

All in all...I think this is the last vinegar rinse I'll do for a while.

nah keep in mind the rock is a carbonate, and youre mixing in vinegar. its like alkaseltzer. It's always going to precipitate a little as the loose exterior of the rock dissolves. Mine did the same thing IMO muriatic acid is somewhat excessive, and extremely abrasive to the rock. I have the same rock as you, and havent had an issue.

It'd be diluted muriatic acid...apparently others have used it with success. Ah well...one more vinegar bath overnight tonight and I'll be over it.

I'm really kinda surprised at how much gunk came out. I spent all afternoon scrubbing the rubble like an OCD madman. I separated the rubble into 2 different buckets, one for clean looking rock and one for the dirtier rock. I rinsed the crap out of them with hot tap water and they still clouded up regardless of how many times I rinsed. Dirt/sand is STILL coming out...but I think I got most of it.

Needless to say, I threw vinegar into both buckets again for another soak. This might be slightly overkill...but I don't wanna deal with this crap leaching phosphates down the road.

Something tells me I should have just done muriatic acid from the get go...

I went a little overboard with the vinegar tonight...

I grabbed the "Extra Strength" variety...9% Acidity.

Yeah...that rubble is pretty dirty.

I think I'll dump it in the morning. Hopefully there'll still be rock left...

QT as far as all coral go?

I do iodine on everything.

Peroxide on pretty much everything but softies. Fine with most zoas, lps, and sps. However, there's several here that have had problems with sps, or just a random coral in general, so use at your own risk. I also wouldn't do it on large LPS colonies single LPS coral like Euphyllia, lobos, trachys, elegance, etc. You're going to end up with so much goo it would be ridiculous. If it's something super expensive or sensitive, I probably wouldn't risk it. Definitely dip the frag plug at the very least. Just as likely to have something hiding on the plug than on the coral itself anyways.

Ah I see. Where might I get the iodine needed for this?

I wouldnt get too concerned with phosphates yet. You arent going SPS for a while at least. I would just worry about your cycle, your QT process, and what kind fun goodies you want in the tank Let it coast on cruise control for a while.

Haha I get that, and you're right. I just like nipping things before they can develop into problems. I guess a 100% vinegar bath for the rubble followed by some RO/DI rinses should be sufficient.

As far as a QT process...is there a recommended way to do this? I've read a bit about iodine/peroxide dips on new additions, but honestly have never done it before.

I wouldnt worry TOO much about organics.. Since its a new tank, you'll want a source of Ammonia. But to answer your question, it would definitely penetrate into the rock. Just be sure to get any sponges, or any other material off the surface area of the rock.

Well, I've already added pure ammonia as it is...I don't need an excess of ammonia stalling my cycle. More importantly, I don't want any phosphates leaking into the tank over time.

Gotcha, I'll try to brush the ouside for any loose decay.

So, I think I'm gonna build a duplex fuge in the middle chamber of my sump.

I love the idea of an area for cryptic/benthic creatures to populate. Now all I need is some egg crate...

The thought of farming aiptasia in the sump, while interesting in theory, sounds a bit scary to me

I won't like...I'd be scared as hell of it moving to the display somehow. Could just use Xenia instead.

Someone on the forum actually has a blanket of xenia for filtration in their sump...

Yeah...that seems like it would do a similar job.

So, I think I'm gonna build a duplex fuge in the middle chamber of my sump.

I love the idea of an area for cryptic/benthic creatures to populate. Now all I need is some egg crate...

The thought of farming aiptasia in the sump, while interesting in theory, sounds a bit scary to me

I won't like...I'd be scared as hell of it moving to the display somehow. Could just use Xenia instead.