KimP's in-wall room divider build

[Timfish]

Kim, how many gallons do u change each week in your water changes?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

25-30gal

We started do weekly water changes in January to remediate the red hair algae problem. Actually our main reason was to get Kim's tank looking better by the monthly meeting in February which was supposed to be at her house but was rescheduled to Ty's. It would have taken longer but we could have taken a more leasurely approch like we did with Mike's tank with his green hair algae problem, http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/34556-hair-algae-a-case-study/?hl=%2Bhair+%2Balgae%2C+%2Bcase+%2Bstudy

I think it's important to point out Kim had a good selection of herbaviores but they were not keeping up. Using water changes and manual removal we have been able to shift the equilibrium in her system so the various nuisance algae are on the wane and her herbavores are able to keep up. This is the same thing that happened with Mikes tank. If Kim want's to back off to 15 - 25% a month now I don't think she's going to see a recurrence of the probelm. With Mike's tank we're now doing roughly 15%-18% every 4 - 6 weeks and his corals and anemones are continuing to grow and thrive.

[Christian]

Love the sea fan

[+KimP]

. . . I'm sure you already ran across this article that discussed AragaMight but just in case:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/7/chemistry . . .

Kim, we discussed aragamight very briefly but I'm afraid I didn't go into a lot of detail and Ty brings up an important subject. It's essentail aquarists understand the chemistry involved in our reefs and Randy Holmes-Farley does an excellent job of explaining some of it. But it's important to look at the whole picture, to pay attention to what is happening in our tanks, to keep abreast of the science and what is being accomplished by others. I certainly do not question the basic equations Dr. Holmes -Farley talks about. What gave me pause when I first read it many years ago was Tropicorum (the oldest coral farm in the US) had been using Aragamight quite successfully as their sole supplement for several years before his article. Quoting Richard Perrin "We have long believed that the CaribSea product, called Aragamight, is really good and have been adding it to our tanks regularly for some time. We get it from CaribSea in 100-pound bags and add it daily. The advantage is not just the jump in calcium that one would expect, it is a multipurpose additive that has a lot of other components besides calcium."¹

A second observation is an apparent assumption the pH in an aquarium is homogeneous and Aragamight would not dissolve. I know from many years experience even though I may test acceptable pH levels in the open water column in my tanks there are certainly micro environments that will be dissolving calcium, this should be obvious to anyone who has grown any stoney corals for any length of time. Any close look at the base of a coral skeleton that has died from lack of light as the colony grows will see dissolution of the skeleton (See the attached photo for closeups of a Birdsnest skeleton dissolving).

Since that article was posted there has been some fascinating science supporting the direct ingestion of fine calcium particles by corals. Something not discussed much 12 - 15 years ago but is fairly commonly accepted now is an important source of food for corals is fish poop (earliest reference I can remember is Borneman's 2001 book on aquarium coral husbandry). Research² done 5 years ago shows a significant percentage of fish poop is calcium and magnesium carbonate crystals. Besides phosphate and nitrogen, corals are also benefiting by direct ingestion of particulate calcium and magnesium carbonate. (This raises some curious questions about the role of bioeroders in our systems providing calcium. )

1) Coral, June/July 2005, pg 11 & 12

2) http://www.pnas.org/content/108/10/3865

Thanks for the info! I knew there had to be some reason you still used it anyway, that's why I left it on my tank. Interestingly I did see a noticeable drop in my alk the following night but I just adjusted the doser and the alk is continuing to raise again. I'm slowly working my way up to 9dkh.

That's good to know about the water changes! As much of a pain as I thought it was these past few months, it really isn't any trouble to do a water change now that I don't have any rock to scrub. That was the big time suck. I don't want to mess up the good streak I'm on though. My next step is going to be changing less gallons each week and see how that goes. It's a big pain to make a full brute can of water, so I'd love to be able to make the water only every other week and just use half each time.

[+KimP]

My phosphates have taken their very first drop (that I've measured) in the time I've had the tank running. Prior to tonight I've always gotten 0.092 and tonight I got 0.046. My guess is the corals are using it up. I have a whole lot less algae now and a lot more corals. A lot has been consistent this year. Water changes, gfo use, feedings, the things I'm dosing, skimmer, etc. Interesting.

[+KimP]

FTS taken in the middle of the night after gluing some frags. Between the turbo snails and urchins I'm getting good practice with my super gluing and epoxy skills.

Alk is stubbornly staying at 7.3 after increasing the doser 3 nights in a row. I gave it a big jump tonight, so certainly I'll see an increase tomorrow night, I think...

[+KimP]

Couple things going on.

Alk is still at 7.3dkh in spite of raising the amount dosed. I'm going to give it another big increase and see what happens. Maybe I'm not really adding as much as it seems. I'm also starting to doubt my test kit, but I can't imagine why it would all of a sudden only go to 7.3. I have another alk testing kit but when I tried it, it really didn't work and I'm sure it's just too old. Here in a bit I'm going to test some freshly mixed saltwater just to see a different result and get some piece of mind.

I'm noticing several of my corals that have been in my tank the longest starting to look lighter. The ones I've noticed it in are lps and softies. I also have a chalice receding a bit and some mushrooms not opening as much. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with my phosphates dropping after 1.5 years of staying at the same level. I've been feeding more so hopefully it'll help. I only changed about 70% of what I usually do with my water change this weekend. I'll drop down to half as much next weekend.

With Timfish's help, we removed the other barnacle in hopes of getting all the fairy dust palys and purple death palys off, then return it without killing anything in the tank. For right now it's just sitting outside in a bucket to dry out. Not exactly sure what my plan is but a while back I had started a thread about getting these palys off of a cerameco frag rack and got lots of good advice. The ceramic is very porous and rough so there's no scraping them off. I'll most likely end up doing a good bleach soak on it.

This was just something interesting I saw the other night

Other than that, I'm seeing lots of growth!

[Reburn]

I would scrape the offenders off then 10% hydrogen peroxide soak for 12 hrs two times then into a RODI soak for 24hrs then back into the tank. The hydrogen peroxide will kill everything on the barnacle and if a little makes it back into your tank it won't hurt everything. It will kill all the bacteria though so it will recycle.

[+KimP]

I would scrape the offenders off then 10% hydrogen peroxide soak for 12 hrs two times then into a RODI soak for 24hrs then back into the tank. The hydrogen peroxide will kill everything on the barnacle and if a little makes it back into your tank it won't hurt everything. It will kill all the bacteria though so it will recycle.

Thanks for the advice! I'm not sure how to scrape them off because the ceramic is so hard and rough. Maybe I'll put on some thick gloves and goggles and try a scalpel? And where do you get 10% peroxide?

[Reburn]

Sorry I wasn't clear.

9 parts RODI water 1 part hydrogen peroxide (just the regular hydrogen peroxide you get at Walgreens etc)

That's my secret to keeping my frag racks clean. It very effective at algae and moderately effective on coraline. Then I just wipe it down with a unscented regular magic eraser, rinse with RODI and back into the tank.

To get the palys off I would put on long sleeves and long pants and a face mask and hit it with my pressure washer. But I'm lazy. Scraping seems like work.

[Planeden]

The tank is looking good, Kim. I am having a hair algae problem, too. I think I am going to try the water change and scrubbing thing.

[+KimP]

The tank is looking good, Kim. I am having a hair algae problem, too. I think I am going to try the water change and scrubbing thing.

HI!! [emoji2] I haven't seen you around in a while, how are you!? Just stick with the manual removal and water changes and be really patient. It'll all of a sudden not grow back. I'm glad to hear you still have your tank!

[+KimP]

I have an interesting thing happening. I haven't dosed a drop of alk in at least a day and a half, probably longer (it's been a week or so since I checked the reservoir), and my alk level isn't budging from 7.3dkh. It's been stuck exactly there since Mar 28th. I'm going to keep watching it and not start dosing again until it starts to drop, just out of curiosity. I have visible growth on several sps, so I know alk is being used. Later today I'll test Ca and Mg. It seems easy to assume water changes are keeping up with use, but prior to the 28th I had been chasing alk around and working on raising it to 9! I was having to increase the level I was dosing about every other night. Not sure what's going on. I did start adding that aragamight in an auto feeder in the sump on Mar 24th. I've been testing twice a day since I noticed I ran out of supplement.

[JamesL]

Wow. Your tank is looking awesome! So glad to see it shaping up the way it is.

This is really making me want to get a tank again

[+KimP]

FTS from last night, after working on the tank so some corals were closed up. As you can see, one of my big barnacles is currently pulled out for fairy dust paly removal. I trimmed my big lonestar leather too.

[Bluemoon]

Wow!! Looking majestic Kim!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[+KimP]

Wow!! Looking majestic Kim!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! It'd look a lot better if that other barnacle was in there. Can't wait to get it back in! Possibly this weekend.

[+KimP]

This fish drives me nuts. I swear he always has to get in the way of every shot I try to get! [emoji35] ...MOVE FISH, get out the way, get out the way fish, get out the way... (ludacris anyone? [emoji23] )

[+KimP]

It's been interesting watching the tank now that it's more fully stocked. Currently my parameters are:

Salinity 1.026

Phos 0.12 (up significantly after a steep drop, after being steady at 0.092 for a year+) Elos professional

Ca 345 Red Sea

Mg 1200 Salifert

Alk 7 Salifert

nitrate 0 API

This is recently all 3, alk Ca and Mg have dropped, so this is the first time I've ever needed to bring all 3 levels up at the same time. I haven't exactly decided on a plan long term, but today I started dosing alk and Ca. I'm waiting for the Mg mix to dissolve, so I'll start that tomorrow. My goal is to get alk close to 9, Ca to 420, and Mg to at least 1280. In the meantime figure out how to keep up with all 3. I don't want to be testing all the time or necessarily dosing anything but alk all the time, although my doser has 3 slots. Maybe I'll alternate weeks testing and dosing Ca and Mg. Maybe I won't continue to need them as much.

[+BobcatReefer]

Tank looks SO clean now Kim - congrats! But bare w/o that big beautiful green guy!

[+KimP]

Tank looks SO clean now Kim - congrats! But bare w/o that big beautiful green guy!

Thanks! I know, I can't easily tell in the pictures which side of the tank I'm looking at without that big green leather. It'll grow back soon though!

[+KimP]

I'm a little bit late posting my weekly fts, but these are from Wed night. Thought I'd post them to show before shots of when I crash my tank tonight replacing the barnacle. I hope I'm just kidding! It's been through a bleach soak, all paly/zoa tissue pealed off, rinses, drying in the sun, peroxide soak, more rinses, and a Prime soak, just in case there was any residual bleach. It's going back in tonight. The urchins keep walking off with all the loose corals, dropping them around the tank, touching them to each other killing the tissue - like dropping a birdsnest in the bubble coral, and it's driving me nuts.

[Bluemoon]

I've always been a little hesitant with urchins because I usually have a lot of loose frags. I have enough trouble keeping the pistol shrimp from using zoas for interior decorating!

Edit - by the way, totally got the luda reference haha guard yo grill foxface

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited April 15, 2016 by Bluemoon

[+KimP]

Frustrating day so far. Last night I noticed something didn't look quite right. I've been testing my alkalinity twice a day just recently because I ran out of alk buffer again (!) because the tank was just flying through it. Didn't have too bad of a dip, just minor. No big deal, grabbed a jug of the B ionic alk that the Dome carries, while I wait for my BRS order to get here. Things are going smoothly again and I'm slowly raising my dkh, shooting for 9. Well I tested it last night after feeling like something wasn't quite right and all of a sudden the alk is up to 9. That's great, just got there faster than I had planned. I'm using a doser and have kept the rate steady, so unless the doser malfunctioned, which I see no convincing evidence of, my alk uptake is inconsistent. That's frustrating. I lowered the dosing and it's only 9.3 this morning. I'll lower the doser again. So far I see some bleaching and hopefully that's it. I have some rtn at the base of an acro and I unfortunately can't get to it until this evening. I hope it doesn't move too quickly! And it would be nice if my alk uptake would pick a rate and stay there.

[+KimP]

Here's the last week, including this morning's results.

[FarmerTy]

Oh alk... our best friend and our enemy in reefing. I always stick to my statement, if you can keep alk steady, you are a master reefer!

The trouble is getting all corals on board to be happy at the same time. Once they are all happy together, your alk consumption is pretty steady. It's when you have some happy and some ticked, that you get this inconsistent up and down of daily testing needed to zero in your dosing level. Just fight with the swings Kimp and eventually everything will be happy and you won't have to mess with it as much anymore.

Also, order a giant 5-gal bucket of alk solution. It looks like you'll need it because you keep running out.

I'd test your doser for a day just to see if its still putting out what you set it for, especially since you'll probably want your alk to drop a bit anyways so having it offline for a day isn't too big of a deal. I forgot where you like to keep your alk at.