mojo's Blog

[+Bmwaaron]

Sounds great Mike,

I'm working on getting a Profilux controller for my tank so it will be cool to compare the differences. How are you liking the new powermodule?

[Headless_donkey]

Sounds great! How is the flow in the tank?

BTW be sure to wash the socks BEFORE you put them in your tank. If you don't there is a possibility skimmer will go crazy.

[mojo]

Aaron, the Powermodule is fantastic. I didn't like my original color, but after switching the lamps around I am really happy. Having 10 lamps offers a tremendous amount of flexibility.

James, the flow is pretty good. I haven't been able to completely open up the barracuda yet, as it causes sand to suspend and clog the 4-way drum. There is a small patch or two of visible sediment at the water surface, and I'd really like to eliminate them. Otherwise, everything in the tank is moving around at a pretty good clip. Thanks, too, for your suggestion on the filter socks. Mine are the ones with strings instead of the rigid opening on top, and these don't contain the 'soapy' material that has to be washed out of the rigid ones.

[mojo]

Today I got my clean-up crew from Reeftopia. I really like ordering from them. Despite everything arriving quite cold, I had no losses as far as I can tell. The cerith snails are all in the same spot, even after being in the tank for 8 hours, but I'm pretty sure they're still adjusting and after a few hours of 'lights off' I think they'll start wandering around.

Also today I had to take the 4-way apart (again) as the drum had jammed. This is the drum that's supposed to tolerate sand. When I took it apart there was almost no sand that I could see, but when I put it back together it worked just fine. I think I'll just keep my Barracuda dialed down to ~50% for several weeks before trying to ramp it up again.

I also added the filter socks to the sump drains. What a huge difference in both noise reduction and tank clarity. This has almost completely solved my microbubble issue, although I still want to raise the baffle between the drain chamber and the return chamber, as this would likely completely eliminate all microbubbles.

The last piece of news is that the rest of my Aquatronica equipment arrived. I don't think I'll have time to situate all of it in the next couple of days, so this will have to wait a little while.

[mojo]

I finally got around to hooking up my calcium reactor properly. I've got the tank's alkalinity up to 8.0 dKH, Ca 420. I didn't test Mg, but I'll get to that. I also hooked up some more modules on the Aquatronica, namely the pH controller for the Ca reactor and the density probe. Lastly, I unboxed a brand new pH probe for my Pinpoint monitor, which I'll use to test the tank water intermittently. I might just eventually get another pH interface for my controller and monitor the tank's pH continuously.

This was a bit weird (and concerning). I calibrated my brand new Aquatronica and Pinpoint pH probes in the same solutions, and put them both in the tank at the same location. Their readings were off by 0.2.

Next I want to hook up the dosing pump module so that I can automate one of the ZEOvit additives. Sorry no pics right now, not much to photograph.

[Headless_donkey]

I am glad to hear things are going well. I was just thinking about your tank because the Zeovit.com Dream tank of the month is insane. When you tank looks like that I will be extremely jealous. Wait I already am, shoot.

What is a density probe? Is it a measure of salinity?

Found the answer on my own. Teach man to fish, right?

That Aquatronic controller is simply amazing. IT almost takes the aquarist out of the equation. I guess it leaves more time for watching and enjoying the tank.

BTW are the clown fish still going strong?

[mojo]

Last night I hooked up my ORP probe to the Aquatronica. I'm supposed to leave the probe in the tank water for about 2 weeks before calibrating, so I'm not paying much attention to the values it's reading.

I also went on a little reconnaissance mission. I saw my red brittle star on top of the closed loop strainer. I should have realized that it was fine, as it was moving its extremities around and, looking back, I'm nearly positive it wasn't stuck on the strainer. I have a history of notting leaving well enough alone, and I felt I needed to do something about this. So I turned off the Barracuda to allow it to climb off of the strainer more easily. This backfired, and the brittle star actually climbed inside of the strainer, where it hung out all night. This morning I couldn't take it, so I unscrewed the strainer from the riser tube, and in the process the star fled down into the riser PVC. I simply waited a few minutes and it climbed out back into the tank. I promptly replaced the strainer and fired the 'cuda back up. I used this opportunity of having my arm in the tank to redirect the flow from my 4-way outlets. I wasn't happy with the flow pattern or the surface agitation, as there were 2 spots where particulates were visible on the surface. With the new positioning of the returns the flow pattern is much better.

I really need to increase the alkalinity demand in my tank (MORE CORALS!!). After running the Ca reactor for only 1 day my alkalinity rose to 9.9 dKH (from 8.0). I'll need to get it down to less than 8, as elevated alkalinity is lethal to SPS when using the ZEOvit method. I adjusted the controller so that it runs much less, and I have a coral shopping spree planned for next weekend.

[mojo]

James,

I can only hope that my tank will ever look that good. As far as the "density" probe goes, I'll answer it here just in case other readers don't know what it is. It's a measure of the tank's salinity. The 'denser' the water, the higher the salt concentration. The controller allows me to measure it in 4 different units. I have it set to specific gravity, as that's what I'm most accustomed to, and I can compare it to my refractometer without doing any mathematical conversions.

The clowns are doing exceptionally well. I think they like their new, larger home. They usually stay close to their small frogspawn frag, but often the female will venture out to familiarize herself with the new digs. They are located to a great little rock wall where I foresee eggs in the future ...

The CBB is also doing very well. It's even getting a little belly on it. I wish I knew it's sex - hate calling it an "it."

[Headless_donkey]

I can't get my ALK to stay down either. Let me know what you figure out. I will do the same.

[mojo]

I did some maintenance today, it felt good. This included a small water change with sand siphoning, scraped algae off of the back glass and overflow, changed carbon, cleaned filter socks (I really need more of these), cleaned salt splash off the Powermodule, and ran some tests.

pH ~8.2

S.G. 1.026

alk 7.85 dKH

Ca 415

Mg 1260

nitrates 0

I had my calcium reactor off for a couple of days as the alkalinity actually climbed to over 10. Now that it's more reasonable I'm going to gradually tweak it up. I'm also starting to supplement potassium. My level was 275 and I need to get it up to around 380. I'm dosing K-Balance Strong, a K-Z product.

I just finished hooking up the dosing pump for the Aquatronica. I'll use this to dose one of my ZEOvit components, ZEOstart2, twice daily. I've been doing it pretty faithfully, and when I'm not home my wife has been doing it for me (most of the time), but this will certainly simplify things. The dosing pump is really slick, and it's able to dose at volumes of only 1 ml at a time. It's actually a 3-pump unit, and as I get more into ZEOvit and increase the coral load in the tank, I'll have other supplements to add so that eventually I'll be using all 3 pumps. I need to get some flexible tubing, as for now I'm using the rigid 1/4" polyethylene which is a little cumbersome.

Lastly, I got a larger powerstrip which I needed badly for things that won't go into the Aquatronica, and I labelled the outlets for ease of use and so I could give my wife instructions over the phone about what to unplug if things go wrong. I think the DJ power centers would be great, but I'm not sure how easy they are to wire up.

[Headless_donkey]

The DJ power centers are more then worth it. I will never do another tank without one or two. They are super easy to "wire up." You just plug stuff in and go. They sell them at guitar center. They can be had on the internet a little cheaper, but you have to wait (and pay) for shipping. Plus if you ask the guys at Guitar Center to cut you a deal they will. I think it is in their job description.

That dosing set-up sounds fantastic. I am pretty sure you can get the tubing at medical supply places(ask Cmanning on ARC about those stores). I have also seen it in bulk on ebay. I think I read you are supposed to change the tube every 6(?) months, but whose counting.

[mojo]

That's great to learn about the DJ's. For some reason I thought you had to cut off the plug and wire it into the center. This sounds like a snap.

As for the dosing pump tubing, I think I know where I can get some .

[mojo]

I received the RedDragon 4.5m3 pump to replace the one that was sent damaged in the mail. I'm also happy to report that I was able to score one of the new models with imperial plumbing! I was quite surprised to see that this pump is actually a bit taller than the one with metric plumbing. Check out what I mean. The one with the red metric intake/outlet is my RD6.5m3, which is rated for higher flows than the all gray RD4.5m3. They both have the same size impeller housing and base, but the pump itself is raised higher off of the base on the newer model. I wonder why they did that?

The intake is set up with a 1-1/4" union, while the output has a 3/4" union.

Hopefully I'll get a chance this week to plumb it in and replace the Mag12. The RD4.5m3 is rated for about 900gph at 4-1/2 feet of head height, which is just under what the Mag12 is rated for. This should slow down the flow through my sump a little, which will be good.

While I'm discussing equipment, here's what the sump looks like at this point. You can now see the addition of the calcium reactor and some other things. The sump is actually too full for me to fit the kalk stirrer, but there's room for that in the pan along side the topoff reservoir. Sorry the skimmer wasn't bubbling, I had the cup off for cleaning.

This is what I'm skimming out on a regular basis. This is 3 days worth of nog. It reeks! Pretty good, I think, considering there's not much in the tank.

[mojo]

I haven't posted any tank pics in a while so here are a few.

full tank

left side - check out the red gorgonian, it has white polyps

right side

side view

duncan

you wanna piece of me?

The ricordea above are the ones in my avatar. They were one of the first corals I ever purchased in this hobby back in October 2005 and they've survived through almost every tank destroyer imaginable. I am really happy to have them in this tank.

[+dapettit]

Nice! I really like how open your aquascaping is.

[mojo]

Nice! I really like how open your aquascaping is.

Thanks a lot, this was my first solo aquascape so that means a lot. Actually John (thedude) made the best suggestion of all, convincing me to move the highest rock from the middle column to the left hand side, which made a huge difference overall. It looks even more open "live" but it's hard to portray with my poor photography skills.

[Headless_donkey]

I bet you do. HA HA HA I forgot!

[semperfimarine1]

im sure its already been posted but what kind of lighting is that, where did you get it from and mine me asking how much it was?>

did it have to be suspended or does it come with mounting legs?

[mojo]

im sure its already been posted but what kind of lighting is that, where did you get it from and mine me asking how much it was?>

did it have to be suspended or does it come with mounting legs?

It is a 48" 10 x 54W ATI Powermodule. It has been tested by many who are "in the know" with T5 lighting and is felt to be the best T5 pendant available with respect to PAR output. I got it from www.reefgeek.com and the price is available on their website. There are no legs and it does have to be suspended, unless you have a canopy and can rest it on top of some side bracing. It's not light weight so if you are planning on suspending one make sure there are studs in the ceiling, or ensure your hardware will support it properly.

[mojo]

I have some bad news to report. The CBB died last week. It just completely stopped eating one day, and the next day it was gone. I'm not sure why it died, and due to its poor track record I don't think I'll be trying another one anytime soon. I did manage to get some replacement fish three days ago. They include a yellow tang, a powder blue tang, and a Swale's reef basslet (Liopropoma swalesi). The yellow is, well, a yellow tang, not much else to say about it, except for the fact that it's been at John's shop for a year and if it dies on my watch, I'll never hear the end of it. The powder blue is simply exquisite in coloration and there's not a speck of ich to be seen. These two tangs have already rid my tank of almost all algae. I'm going to get some nori and broccoli tomorrow as well as some veggie cubes for these guys. They're both larger than I had hoped for, but they looked so good I couldn't pass them up. I don't think I'll have a problem when I eventually add a Chevron tang, since it's in a different genus, but I'll need to get a pretty good-sized purple tang or it will get completely harrassed by this yellow dude. As for the Swale's basslet, it's been in hiding since it went in the tank. I've located it in caves on opposite ends of the tank and it appears healthy, although it doesn't come out to eat. I'm providing enough food so that the current takes food particles to every hole in the tank, so it's probably getting enough. If not, it's also known to eat small crustaceans, and since my tank is teeming with pods I feel fairly certain that it's not starving. This fish is fairly squeemish and will occasionally remain out of sight for weeks to months before venturing out, but its colors are so stunning that I really wanted to give this fish a try.

I also had another issue with the OM 4-way, although this was easily solved. On Friday when acclimating my new arrivals I heard the CL return plumbing smacking and rattling around with a loud thumping sound. After some inquiring on the OM forum I deducted that this was a "water hammer" which was fixed by removing the lid of the 4-way and cleaning off the magnets and relubricating them. Pretty quick fix. While doing this I realized something that I could have improved upon. At first I thought the water hammer was created by something, perhaps a snail, inside the return plumbing that was being banged around. Withought SUBVs directly beneath the tank's returns I realized that I simply don't have the ability to remove or replace any section of plumbing between the 4-way and the tank. When I eventually get a larger tank that's something I'll do for sure.

I finally put some SPS in the tank 9 days ago, and some of them are losing their color despite good PE. At first I thought it was attributable to something I may have been doing wrong with the ZEOvit method, but I also suspected bleaching from excess light. I got an early holiday gift, a PAR meter, so I thought I'd take some objective measurements. Here they are, with the ATI Powermodule located 6" above the water line. It should be obvious but I'll just mention that larger size numbers are closer to the camera, and smaller size numbers are farther away. Oh, and these photos are old and don't show my new corals, although most of the PAR readings were taken at areas where I have new corals mounted. For instance, I have a frag of Paletta blue acropora that's located at the "580" marker, and this coral is now a light sky blue as opposed to the deep rich blue of its parent colony.

So what do you think, PAR masters out there? Those are some pretty steep numbers, eh?

[+ACampbell]

That's really cool Mike. I'm very impressed. I wish I could get a par map like that for my tank.

[Headless_donkey]

First off, sorry about your fish.

Here are some PAR values, I got from Sanjay, for depth penetration of ocean waters in French Polynesia.

code:

1m: 1640

5m: 958

10m: 618

15m: 436

So I would think your numbers would be good. I am really interested in finding out what the true answer to your question is. It seems PAR values gets thrown around alot as a comparative, but very little hard numbers are given. If it makes a difference I had some SPS fade after coming into my tank under T5s. Now they look better then they did in their original tank.

It is also possible the corals aren't used to having some of those color temps mixed in. ie very few people bother with the red wave lengths. You however, have those and I think in the long run your corals will look better. Just a thought.

I think we should have a PAR mapping day and drive around with your PAR meter and test everyone's tank. I also think we need to see a PAR map of your office tank. I heard corals are doing great in it!

I am extremely jealous you have a tool that I want. Maybe next year a color temp meter?

[mojo]

Andrew - You can get a PAR map like that of your tank. I'll come over to your house and I'll have my meter with me!

James - Thanks for posting those "natural" PAR values, most enlightening (excuse the pun). I appreciate your comments and particularly your optimism that my colors will eventually adapt and learn to enjoy their new light spectrum. I definitely want to map out the PAR of the office tank, as well as other peoples' tanks to get a better comparison of just how much light the really healthy and colorful corals are getting. A PAR mapping day sounds great, maybe we can set this up for after the new year. And don't be jealous, you can use the meter whenever you want.

[mojo]

Today I made a 2 lb. batch of food. First I went to Kingfish and picked up:

Brightwell Aquatics Vitamarin-M, 250 ml

Brightwell Aquatics Vitamarin-C, 250 ml

Brightwell Aquatics Fish Amino Acids, 250 ml

Selcon, 60 ml

PE mysis, 1 pack

H2O Life Cyclops, 1 pack

H2O Life Mini Mysis, 1 pack

H2O Life Fish and Reef #2

H2O Life Brown Algae

At the grocery store I picked up:

1 lb. fresh shrimp

1/2 lb. fresh scallops

1/4 lb. fresh squid with tentacles

10 live clams

I then pulled out some Cyclop-Eeze, Kent Garlic X-treme and some green algae (nori) that I already had at home. All of the fresh ingredients were kept very cold. I rinsed the PE mysis in some RO water, but nothing else was rinsed.

I split the above ingredients into 2 batches. The liquid additives were poured into the processor, then the fresh seafood and algae sheets were added. These were permitted to soak for about 5 minutes so that the seafood and nori would absorb the vitamins and aminos. I then added the frozen bits and about 10 droppers full of Garlic X-treme before grinding up the gruel. The contents were poured into ziploc bags and flat frozen immediately. I intended to add banana to the mix as well, but I didn't have any at home and by the time I realized it, I was already committed. Let's hope the charges appreciate their upcoming meals!

I've also begun adding some additional ZEOvit supplements. Included are B-Balance, Pohl's Coral Vitalizer, Amino Acid High Concentrate, and perhaps the most exciting product of them all, Sponge Power. I'm also adding a little iodide (Lugol's) to the tank, albeit very sparingly, to hopefully help with coral coloration. I really need to take some pics.

[thedude]

Mike,

Remind me to tell you what Iodine supplement you should use instead of Lugol's. While lugol's is still effective, it takes a couple of days for it to break down from something poisonous to something usable.

John