Juiceman Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 I think the feeding Anthias multiple times a day thing is a myth. I feed my tank once a day with pellets (very little) with the auto feeder on the lowest setting and once every 2 days with frozen... I just get everyone fat with the frozen feeding so no one is every malnourished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Indoor CO2 reading: Outdoor: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Mark Callahan had documented something similar with ph in his house, I believe he had a full thread and even a video about it. He got to where he was leaving a window open each night. I seem to remember he even ran a pipe or something to bring in outside air... found it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 1, 2016 Author Share Posted April 1, 2016 Thanks for the video, Mike. What Mark says definitely reinforces my opinions and was a great short summary of options to raise pH (although I wish he had touched more on the dangers of over dosing kalk and raising pH TOO high, which can be just as deadly as low pH) Thanks for the visual on CO2 differences Ty, that is a great representation to back up what I'm seeing with microbubbles on nights with windows open vs. nights with windows closed. Obviously the most reliable strategy for stabilizing pH during the nights between inside vs outside air is injecting outside air. Maybe Dan or someone else who draws in outside air to their skimmer can chime in on what the ambient temperature of outside air does to the temperature of the tank during the winter and summer months. Wrapping the air line in heat trace during the winter would help warm up the air, but the hot summer air may pose more of a challenge to cool down. I believe the temperature and pH swings are more affected by the microbubble technique than simply running a protein skimmer. We have already documented and proved that drawing in outside air for the skimmer will help stabilize the pH, but it's my belief that since microbubbles infuse most of the tank water with air and skimmers only come into contact with small quantities of water at a time, that microbubbles in the tank will have a more radical affect on tank parameters. When I first ran microbubbles with the windows open at night and compared it to the pH and temperature from the night before with a skimmer running and doors and windows open, the differences in pH and temperature changes was drastic between the two evenings. It is this strong impact on water parameters that would worry me about running outside air through the seasons for microbubbles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 I definitely can tell when it's cold outside and the skimmer is sucking in cold air, but it's nothing the heaters can't deal with. I haven't had the outside line plumbed when it's been really hot yet so the verdict is still out on that but I don't think it will be that big a deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 5, 2016 Author Share Posted April 5, 2016 Last night I installed the back panel of my sump with magnets and cable track attached and unplugged the Apex for a few minutes to run wire through the track and get things organized. I also took off my biopellet reactor because it was old/crummy and wasn't tumbling the biopellets and started leaking water all over my sump floor. I thought it probably wasn't accomplishing much so the tank wouldn't miss it for a few days.... Well about 6 am this morning I noticed one coral was bleached. Checked alk on my way out the door and it was sitting at a stable 8.12 dkh. Came home this afternoon and the coral was indeed bleached, and so are ALL my corals now. So I ran some tests just now and here are the results: Alk: 8.23 dkh NO3: ~1.5 ppm PO4: 0.07 ppm Mg: 1110 ppm Temp: 78.3-79.9 today pH: 7.95-8.14 today My Melanarus wrasse is also m.i.a. I wonder if that's where the nutrients are coming from in conjunction with the biopellets? I don't see any sign of a dead fish yet.... Does anyone have any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 That lower Mg has me concerned but that's all I can think of. Didn't accidentally leave the light on overnight by accident? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 Come to think of it, the only times I've had coral lighten up on me is if under/over exposed to light, Mg overdose, or nutrients were too low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 For me, the only red flag is the Mg is too low. I'd dose that up and see if it helps. Some of my corals start bleaching when my Mag is low so that's a possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 6, 2016 Share Posted April 6, 2016 Oh, one last possibility, salinity. Checked it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 6, 2016 Author Share Posted April 6, 2016 Yeah Mg has always been low in my tanks, not sure why... I assume the batch of CaRX media I have is low of Mg, which is why I have always struggled with it. I added NeoMag to the reactor a month ago, which brought it up to 1140, but now it's already on the decline. I'll have to add more NeoMag soon and boost up the quantity. As for salinity, it is at 1.026, so not too high at the moment. There is one possibility I have thought of since this afternoon. I got poison ivy pretty bad on my right arm last week and have been putting Calamine lotion on it. I don't explicitly remember shoving my arm in the tank last night, but it's such second nature I certainly could have without completely washing it off my arm. If I tested for zinc, I imagine levels may be pretty high at the moment. And doing a little research, zinc has the potential to harm coral. That's all I've got so far, I'll see if the tank looks any better soon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 6, 2016 Author Share Posted April 6, 2016 A positive effect from it at least is the dino population really cleared up today, not completely gone, but a lot better! Hopefully my corals can rebound and the dinos stay dead.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 6, 2016 Author Share Posted April 6, 2016 OK. One last observation and possible explanation. Last night I thought I felt stray voltage while pouring water into the sump. Didn't think much of it since I also have some small cuts and salt water can just feel that way in a cut. I decided to investigate if stray voltage was a possible cause and low and behold the pump that feeds me carbon and GFO reactor wasn't running and gave me a little jolt when I was holding it. So it looks like the GFO and carbon hasn't been running for at least a day if not more and there has been stray voltage. That would help explain the elevated nutrients in the tank, but I'm not convinced 0.07 ppm PO4 would bleach corals in a few hours. Maybe someone who has seen this can testify, but I personally haven't observed it. Perhaps it's a combination of factors that led me to this point... Luckily I had ordered another pump for my RO/DI reservoir, so I threw it on and replaced the carbon and GFO since it was pretty old and smelling anaerobic from the lack of water flow. Still praying my corals aren't poisoned or shocked to death by the sudden addition of new carbon and GFO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 6, 2016 Share Posted April 6, 2016 Hmmm... doubt the lack of GFO or carbon would do it but that stray voltage may have something to do with it... and could be the very reason your melanarus maybe hiding in the sand and not showing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 6, 2016 Author Share Posted April 6, 2016 Yeah, I've had PO4 higher than this before and didn't have corals bleach so quickly. The pump definitely had that burnt electronic smell to it, so I'm not sure if some compounds could have leached into the water from it. I added 2 cups of fresh carbon, so hopefully any compounds causing harm will be scrubbed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 7, 2016 Author Share Posted April 7, 2016 Did a little research today on the possible sudden bleaching event of my tank. So far I think I've ruled El Nino out at the moment.... If I did get some Calamine lotion in the water, which is loaded with zinc oxide, then zinc is the main source of contamination. According to Dr. Shimek in a 2008 article "Our Coral Reef Aquaria - Our Own Personal Experiments in the Effects of Trace Element Toxicity" zinc causes lowered growth rates in zooxanthellae. Whether the zinc would force the corals to eject the zooxanthellae and bleach was not mentioned though. Below is the exert from the article pertaining to zinc: "Zinc concentrations in aquarium water averaged 212 " 21 ppb and the maximum value was 260 ppb. The LC50 for Nassarius festivus is 1760 ppb and feeding is reduced at 200 ppb. Zinc concentrations of 100 ppb to 1 ppm cause lowered growth rates in zooxanthellae, while a concentration of 100 ppb reduces fertilization to about 7% of normal in Favites chinensis. In laboratory treatments of estuarine organisms, effects become noticeable at 1.2 ppb to 8 ppb. In artificial seawater, the average zinc concentration is 37 " 17 ppb. Zinc was undetectable in the water in the arsenic slag, even though it was present in relatively large amounts in the solid slag." I also took notice of the reduced feeling of Nassarius snails at 200 ppb, as my urchin was very lackadaisical the day after the bleaching initially occurred. This doesn't confirm my suspicion of zinc poisoning, but it certainly helps support it. Another article reported corals bleached immediately and died within 48 hours of exposure. I haven't seen any complete fatalities yet, but I guess I still have a few hours left... Important lesson, ALWAYS wash your hands super well before putting them in the tank, and be especially aware of what you do around your tank when you have topical creams on your skin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 My own values of zinc in my tank according to Triton for reference. I for some reason remembered it was elevated but I guess I told you incorrectly last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 7, 2016 Author Share Posted April 7, 2016 Maybe I should succumb to Triton and get a test conducted to confirm my suspicions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 7, 2016 Author Share Posted April 7, 2016 Making slight progress on the hood. Got my attachment bars that the LED units will hang across and I bought some ball bearing drawer slides to attach them too. Here's a dry run of what the light layout will look like. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OU12004 Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 If it was zinc a poly-filter may remove it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluemoon Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 (edited) I'm always terrified I have some contaminant on my hands when I reach into the tank...so much so that I'll even just rinse my arm off with tap water like its a lesser evil... Saw this in a BRS email today... Probably just vinegar water but the peace of mind that comes with a label... http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-suds-aquarium-safe-hand-soap.html?trk_msg=S3JVN0E8GG74T19P0PL6J8BRSK&trk_contact=P9QDDLL3QL90DJJH36VMNPNKHK&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=SHOP+NOW&utm_campaign=education&utm_content=NewProd_4716 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited April 8, 2016 by Bluemoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 Haha I saw that soap in the BRS email today too and thought it SOOOO ironic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 I'm trying to think of the best way to attach the T5s to the slides. I have some scrap pieces of extruded aluminum that I think I can probably hang off the black cross bars. They are different sizes, so that may prove a challenge, but connecting them like this seems like a good potential solution: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 #adultlegos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 10, 2016 Author Share Posted April 10, 2016 Almost done with the hood! Just have to lift it up on the tank and install the T5 bulbs. Excited to finally get it looking clean and organized up top. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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