Drift Monkey Posted June 18, 2013 Author Share Posted June 18, 2013 Anyone ever use Prodibio BioClean? Looks like interesting stuff. It's not too expensive, so I may give it a try... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 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.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted June 18, 2013 Author Share Posted June 18, 2013 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 It may work for seeding it and making it cycle faster. Not sure how much faster, though. Or if it'll arrive before it cycles on its own. That's getting beyond my experience level pretty quick. But you clearly already have the bacteria since you are getting nitrates. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 It may work for seeding it and making it cycle faster. Not sure how much faster, though. Or if it'll arrive before it cycles on its own. That's getting beyond my experience level pretty quick. But you clearly already have the bacteria since you are getting nitrates. Right...I can get it shipped in 2 days easily. Leaving it as-is for another week won't hurt though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 (edited) So I was moving the MP10 around yesterday to see if I could go 100% percent without blasting the sand around...and it turns out I mostly can. There were a few spots where the sand became uneven so I stuck my arm in there to level it out. Bad idea. I ended up knocking my scape over, but that got me thinking...I should probably make it a bit more stable. Next thing ya know I'm re-scaping the **** thing. Hours later (and lots of cussing)...I came up with this...which I actually like better than the original. I dub this: The Broken Arch. Pretty impressed with the camera on my HTC One...it's certainly better than my old iPhone 4S. The angle is super wide too. The new scape from the left. From the right. It's much more stable this way and I managed to reclaim a little bit of vertical space on the left side with this arrangement as well. Plus, the overhangs just look cool to me. What do y'all think? Edited June 21, 2013 by Drift Monkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I like it better, too. The one on the left looks like a snake skull in the first picture. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I like it. Very minimal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 I like it better, too. The one on the left looks like a snake skull in the first picture. I like it. Very minimal. Appreciate it fellas. Now it's time for another cycle update... Day 13: Ammonia: ~3 ppm Nitrite: ~2.0+ ppm Not sure wtf happened here. My ammonia shot back up to about 3 ppm...but the nitrites are steadily climbing...with this API kit, it's hard to tell exactly how high...but it's pretty bright purple. I do wonder if these readings have anything to do with my rescaping endeavors... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 The new scape looks great! That's cool you got it stable with those neat overhangs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Looks great 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted June 25, 2013 Author Share Posted June 25, 2013 A week later...I'm getting some uber thick foam from the skimmer. The microbubbles seem less... but either way there are absolutely none in the display. It actually pulled some skimmate throughout the past week. It might be a tad fuller than it should be because I think it fluctuated and ran high for a bit. It's not that dark or anything, but I'm really just surprised it pulled even that out. Now I'm trying to figure out how high the foam should be since it is now a completely different consistency. I guess it's wet skimming at the top of the outlet and dry skimming at the bottom of the collection cup... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 It's tough to dial in a skimmer because simple letting your hand touch the water anywhere will change the surface tension of the water and cause the foam to drop. I'd dial it in at the beginning of the day, when you haven't touched the water all night, or fed, and get the top of that foam at the bottom of the collection cup. It should fill with dark skimmate about once a week. When you put your hand in the tank and the foam drops, don't turn the skimmer up to compensate, and if you kill your return pump, don't turn the skimmer off too, just remove the collection cup and let it overflow. On/off is bad for skimmers so I have read from manufacturer suggestions AND personally experienced. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted June 25, 2013 Author Share Posted June 25, 2013 That's basically how I've been doing it...the skimmer stays on and barely play with the settings unless it's running too high. Cycle update - Day 16-17: Ammonia: ~1 ppm Nitrite: ~5.0+ ppm No change at all. I may have hit a wall here...but I'm just gonna leave it be. I'll do another test tonight and continue to check the parameters everyday until I leave for Vietnam for 2 weeks on Saturday. I just hope it's done doing its thang by the time I return... I do wonder if the high nitrites are stalling the cycle out though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 That's a SCA 301, correct? Might want to keep it a bit lower. You should be able to get it dialed in so it's skimming some mud looking stuff unless you want to skim really wet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted June 25, 2013 Author Share Posted June 25, 2013 That's a SCA 301, correct? Might want to keep it a bit lower. You should be able to get it dialed in so it's skimming some mud looking stuff unless you want to skim really wet. Correct. Well the issue before it that it would fluctuate over time (wet bubbles) and started to wet skim on its own. Now that it's making thicker foam, it seems much easier to set. The other thing to mention is...there is basically nothing in there to skim besides some slime in the sump. I don't really expect to see mud stuff until I start stocking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted June 26, 2013 Author Share Posted June 26, 2013 Day 18: Ammonia: ~1 ppm Nitrite: ~5.0+ ppm I'm fairly certain my cycle is stalled. I'm doing a 10 gallon water change now to lower the nitrites back down to readable levels. Fun night ahead... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted June 26, 2013 Author Share Posted June 26, 2013 ~50% water change done. Ammonia: ~.25 ppm Nitrite: ~2.0 ppm Levels went down...but not as much as I honestly thought they would. Hopefully this gets my cycle out of a rut. I'll test tomorrow to see if anything changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted June 27, 2013 Author Share Posted June 27, 2013 Day 19: Ammonia: ~.25 ppm > < ~.50 ppm Nitrite: ~2.0 ppm No real change. Ammonia might have gone a smidgen, but nitrites are still holding at 2 ppm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 what is your ammonia source? are you getting any nitrates? if your nitrates are going up then the cycle is still progressing, so i'd be testing those every day, too. i am far from an expert on skimmers (know nothing, really), but would turning that off help? it just seems that if you are pulling your bacerial warriors out of the water it may be working against you. eventually your rock and substrate will house most of your bacteria, but now? and if it is pulling nitrates out of the water it may make it more difficult to track the results. just seems to me that during the cycle you want the water as dirty as possible. but, hopefully someone that knows about skimmers will chime in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted June 27, 2013 Author Share Posted June 27, 2013 what is your ammonia source? are you getting any nitrates? if your nitrates are going up then the cycle is still progressing, so i'd be testing those every day, too. i am far from an expert on skimmers (know nothing, really), but would turning that off help? it just seems that if you are pulling your bacerial warriors out of the water it may be working against you. eventually your rock and substrate will house most of your bacteria, but now? and if it is pulling nitrates out of the water it may make it more difficult to track the results. just seems to me that during the cycle you want the water as dirty as possible. but, hopefully someone that knows about skimmers will chime in. My only source is the pure ammonia I added almost 3 weeks ago. The only other possibility is a bit from the live rock rubble that I thoroughly cleaned. Haven't bothered with the nitrates because I'm expecting the ammonia/nitrites to go away first...namely the ammonia. From what I've read, it shouldn't matter if you skim during a cycle. Besides I added the ammonia and bacteria quite a while ago and haven't started skimming until last week. Doubt it's pulling any nitrates out of the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted June 29, 2013 Author Share Posted June 29, 2013 (edited) Day 21: Ammonia: ~.25 ppm Nitrite: ~2.0 ppm maybe 5 ppm Everything seems to be stuck at these levels. Anyway, this is the last test before I leave for Vietnam for tomorrow. My RO/DI reservoir is topped up and confirmed to be operational! Hopefully this thing will cycle through while I'm gone. The next posts I'll make will likely involve pictures from Vietnam! Edited June 29, 2013 by Drift Monkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Have a good trip. Hope your tank is ready when you get back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 So after a week of re-acclimating myself to life in the States (ugh)...I finally was able to meet up with Zack (nanoreefer11) and grab a couple frags from him. Mostly zoas/palys (most of which I have no idea what their names are, but Zack does ) and a small hammer frag. Thanks again Zack! The hammers seemed no have no issue (as advertised) and are already opening up. The only frag that didn't open for me this morning is the orange zoas...I'm sure they'll come around though. These guys were awake and open before the lights were on, beautiful and resilient! Crappy picture of these zoas, but they opened up just fine this morning. Everything seems to be happy...so I guess my parameters are decent enough afterall. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 The hammer is really open now! Either it's lovin' its new home or really good at faking it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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