Tank Journal - 135 FOWLR

[Floyd R Turbo]

Skimmer!!!

[FONT=&quot]The skimmer showed up today while I was testing the water, so it’s finally installed and running!![/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Tank after cleaning[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Cyano already taking hold again[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Nitrates at 40-50 after water change[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Phosphates around 1 ppm – better than 2-3 like it was before. Will have to continue to monitor it, hopefully the ROWAphos isn’t used up already, that would suck!![/FONT]

 

[mdaniel2882]

The skimmer will help the cyano problem. you should see a noticeable difference. You might want to try this stuff. Brightwell Aquatics I have heard great things about it. it is really just a nitrifying bacteria suplement but you will be amazed at what it does to the water clarity about 30 min after you put it in. I usually don't put any chemicals in my tank but I am going to try the MicroBacter7

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I'm also running my Magnum canister again, that seems to help, it takes a lot of crud out (usually collapses the micron cartridge in 1 day) and probably adds to the flow level. Hopefully it won't be needed after the skimmer kicks in. I want to go in there tonight to check up on it. I heard that most skimmers take about a week to 'set in'. Since this is my first new skimmer experience, we'll see how it goes. I have to say that the Reef Octopus NW-150 is quite easy to setup and use, and the way it's designed makes perfect sense. The other system I work on uses an older AquaC that I think it a piece of junk if you ask me, it took me (an electrical engineer) a while to figure out how to 'tune it in' and then it work variably depending on the sump level. But we'll see how the Reef Octopus does in the long run. Still, lots and lots of tiny bubbles right off the bat!

As for the soaking rock, I emptied the tub and re-filled with a fresh batch of saltwater, it read about 0.5ppm ammonia after a few minutes, after a few hours it went up to 1 or 1.5 maybe. I'm going to rinse it with RODI water a few times (since I have 45g brewed up and 100+GPD system) and do another batch of SW and let that soak overnight at lower heat - 70-72. I'm guessing that there was a bunch of decayed matter from when it was pulled out of the previous tank. Such porous stuff, it's impossible to rinse it all away.

The only thing I don't want to do is to get this stuff cooking, so I've got to keep changing and rinsing until I get a insignificant ammonia rise in a given period...at least that's the idea...

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Last night I rinsed the rock off with RODI water and then refilled with fresh SW. This morning, the Ammonia was somewhere between 0.5 and 1.0 ppm, so I think it's safe to say that most of whatever was decayed and dead has been dissolved out. It's only in 8 gallons of water, so if you extrapolate that out to 140 gallons, worst case it will throw 0.05 ppm into the tank water. Even if I threw it into the tank before doing this, it would only have thrown it less than 0.5 ppm, so I guess that would have been 'safe' but I'm glad I soaked it first.

Clean-up crew got lost in the mail. West Palm Beach USPS says they just got it yesterday (Thursday), even though John @ reefcleaners.org (VERY nice and helpful guy by the way) dropped it off on Tuesday. He said there have been problems with USPS and his shipments, so it's time to crack some head at the USPS. He also is going to re-ship the whole shipment. How about that for customer service!!

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Clean-up crew & base rock

I added all 45 pounds of base rock and all the CUC today. And the puffer did think it was Christmas I believe. Within 10 minutes, he went after 2 of the big Nerite snails. I have to tell you, it is WAY COOL to see a puffer try to do this. He swam over to it (on the glass) and you could just tell he was like "that's for ME!!!" and pulled his mouth closed and back, then lunged at it. He didn't get it, but he's sure trying!!

I ordered 40 of the Dwarf Cerith snails, but I'm pretty sure he sent me about 120. 5 or 6 hermits (puffer tried to go after one of those too) and about a dozen large Nerites and over 2 dozen small/medium Nerites, and about a half-dozen Nassarius (I put those on the substrate). So the hope is that they will last a while, at least long enough to see if they will get the cyano and green hair algae under control. They were pretty inexpensive, so even if I have to get more that's ok!! Here's some pics

Full tank

And close-ups from right to left

 

[Mitchell0605]

What fish are in there Floyd? I saw a Humbug Damsel and of course the Puffer but is there more?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

There's 3 of those damsels in there. Used to be a Yellow Tang, but it died the night before the first PWC. I've been told they're 3 stripe damsels?

 

[Mitchell0605]

Yeah. Three Stripe, Humbugs all the same fish.

 

[thincat]

I don't think your CUC will eat your cyano or your hair algae...so one out of three isn't so bad....1. won't eat cyano, 2. won't eat hair algae 3. Puffer will eat all of your CUC! hahahaha lol

 

[Mitchell0605]

At least someones happy.

 

[Krypt]

I like this picture, the puffer is all smiles for the recently added shell buffet!

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I don't think your CUC will eat your cyano or your hair algae...so one out of three isn't so bad....1. won't eat cyano, 2. won't eat hair algae 3. Puffer will eat all of your CUC! hahahaha lol

So are you telling me that ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae - Home is guilty of false advertising? Here's their descriptions:

Assorted hermits

This mix of assorted reef safe hermit crabs are good at removing hair algae, film algae, detritus and cyanobacteria from your tank. They will eat some thinner macros, and ulva, scroll algae, and Halymenia may be at risk. Thin legs will often eat caulerpa as well. While they will not eat your corals, they may attack snails for their shells, and this is something to be mindful of in your tank. You can reduce this risk by having plenty of empty shells for them to move into.

Dwarf Cerith

These smaller Cerith snails range in size from a half and inch to almost 1'', but are slender. These snails will consume diatoms, cyano, film algae, detritus, and hair algae in the substrate as well as on rocks and to some extent the glass in your aquarium. Because of their versatility and hardiness, they are our favorite species of cleaner. Because of their smaller size, they are able to clean the nooks and crannies in your live rock, where algae hides, and detritus pockets decay into available nutrients and clog pores. We consider these to be some of the most versatile snails we know of, and recommend them as the "staple" of your cleaning crew.

Nassarius Vibex

Excellent sand stirrer and scavenger. These snails will pop out of the sand when they smell food, or when you are feeding the fish. Contrary to popular belief these snails do NOT eat algae; they eat detritus and leftover fish food. They are still good in your tank though, because they will help maintain your nitrate levels, and clean some of the debris that is building up in your substrate.
These snails are almost a must for those of you with messy eaters, such as predatory fish and seahorses. They are also good to have around if your fish are well fed.
They grow to about a half of an inch tall, and 3/5 of an inch in length. A decent sized snail. Combining them with our Cerith and Dwarf Planaxis Snails is the best way to get your substrate clean.

Nerite snails

The popular Nerite snails is checkered with variable markings that make it an attractive addition to the reef tank. In addition to good looks, the Nerite Snail is a voracious consumer of detritus, algae and especially diatoms and cyanobacteria - including Lyngbya. These snails are excellent for cleaning the rocks and glass of your aquarium, and get along well with others.They will not consume display macro algae.

????????

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Numerous websites are out there selling snails that list them as eaters of cyano - but I've never witnessed it. Doesn't mean it can't happen though, I suppose.

 

[thincat]

Wow, according to that, no one should have a problem with cyanobacteria, hair algae if they have enough of their snails. What a great idea. Sure makes keeping a SW tank easy to keep under control.
Just kidding...As Kurt says, never seen that happen....

 

[cmor1701d]

I've never seen anything eat cyano and Mexican Turbo snails are the only think that I have witnessed eating hair algae (ok maybe a sailfin blenny too).

 

[jcmelski]

When I first set up my 29BC I had hair algae out the whazoo. I put in some mexican turbo snails and other snails and the algae was gone overnight. Not so with cyano!

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Agree... mexican turbos are definitely good for hair algae. And also finding any unsecured corals that may be in your tank.

 

[Mitchell0605]

lol

 

[cmor1701d]

Thanks Kurt. I should have metiioned that the turbos are buldozers in both ways. They clear a path through the HA and bulldoze anything in their way including unattached or weakly attached corals.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Well, time will tell I guess, the green hair algae is already coming back. I've got Brightwell Phosphat-R and ROWAphos in the sump, and Purigen, plus the skimmer now which I cleaned today and it was about 1/2" of almost black with a hint of green liquid, and the inner neck was coated with brown sludge already. On the reef tank I also maintain it takes weeks to form that sludge. I wanted to adjust the bubbles up, but decided that I better just leave it alone for at least another week and monkey with it then to make sure it's broken in fully. Saturday when I tested Phosphates they were about 1 or maybe 1.5, so they're staying where they are but maybe coming up slightly. This tank I think is loaded with them, whenever I did a PWC in the past, the phosphates were down immediately after, but the next day shot right up again. On the ROWAphos instructions, it says that phosphates will get leeched out of the substrate, etc, so I'm guessing that there is some kind of equilibrium point, and if I removed the phosphates out of the water, whatever is in the substrate gets leeched back into the water until a new equilibrium point is reached. If this is the case, I might as well put the rest of the ROWAphos in that tank and just let it run it's course. Heck, it might be worth investing in a phosphate reactor, or just making one DIY. Can't be that hard.