Morgan's s500

[Wolffman64]

In case anyone is wondering, the rsm s500 does NOT, I repeat does NOT come with any extra O rings.

If you have an extra, you'll probably find out why when you put water into the ATO.

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Lol, did you flood the floor??

I forgot to close one of the red handles (with the output for the chiller, and I didn't have a chiller when I started up at first) before I turned on the return pump the first time. It creates a great fountain.....

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[coralrama]

It wasn't too bad, I only put in half a gallon of RODI water, most of it actually went right into the sump.

Yours must have been fun, spraying right against the left wall, ugh!

 

[Wolffman64]

Yep, luckily it was during the leak test so it was only tap water.

 

[coralrama]

Water and rock have been in there a week, I've been testing ammonia daily and seeing no spike at all, nitrates are >10. Came home yesterday to some cyano and the hair algae is taking off, so it looks like whatever phosphate that's in the sand is getting consumed.

I've moved a few corals, and at this point have most of the rock from the old 50 gallon tank moved, which is causing a major algae bloom in that tank. If levels stay good I'll move the rest of the coral and the few fish i have this weekend.

Here's how the scape is looking:

 

[coralrama]

It's been a busy week!

I ended up buying a pair of Kessils, as the temp kept creeping up to 82 with the T5s. I tried a fan which helped a little, but not enough. Looking at the cost of a chiller (basically one Kessil) and the likely energy savings over a year I quickly talked myself into it . Tank has been a steady 78-79 now. Very happy with the Kessil's, now I need the apex module so I can program them! I've also seen people take out the middle set of T5s and point the Kessils through there, allowing for both T5 and LED, but I think these are enough light. I can now make a top as well which will be easier without the T5 hood in place.

I've been transferring coral and more rock over, and have everything moved now! Gradually moving the rock out of a tank is an interesting study in reef chemistry. The algae completely took off in the old tank once there wasn't enough bacteria to compete with it.

Algae in the new tank is happily being consumed by my new tang who just came out of QT.

Full tank shot

From the side

A happy elegance coral

This looked like a lot more coral when it was in a 50 gallon!

these are all phone pics (obviously) I will try to do a real shoot some time this week with the good camera. Here is one of my favorite macro shots from the old tank:

 

[coralrama]

Sweepers

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[DianaKay]

Wanted to keep myself updated on your tank right now....have you decided a plan of Bryopsis removal yet?
I struck out on finding any Kent Tech-M locally so I haven't done anything yet.
What does your Mg initially test at? Are you going to raise it with Kent Tech-M?

 

[coralrama]

Hi Diana,

I owe some updates on this thread, so thanks for posting. I'm going to document my bryopsis battle here, and link to it from the other thread so as not to hijack it.

I will take some pics one of these days!

In the meantime, I have a small patch of bryopsis developing. I found it when my wrasse knocked over a stylophora.

Having done some research, including reading the thread Diana started here:
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/marine-algae-plants/91796-bryopsis-trying-not-give-up.html
I have decided to treat it by raising my Magnesium levels. This fits well anyway as my alk has been very low (7) so I'm hoping to raise that a bit too in the process here.

My levels yesterday were:
7/3/2014 4:55pm
Alk 7.0 Dkh
Ca 420 ppm
Mg 1220 ppm
Ph 8.32
Temp 80

I am using the red sea test kit, which is a little hard to use. I'm never sure I have the right amount of titrant in the plunger. Sometimes when I pull it up to 1ml the fluid level is at .9, sometimes it is at .82, sometimes at .85. I'm not sure where it is supposed to be, does anyone know? .9 would seem correct as the others seem to indicate some sort of air pocket in the tip when the plunger is first pulled up. What I usually do is pull some fluid up, then push it out, then pull it up again to try to reduce air bubbles. I guess equally possible is that there is some titrant left in the tip when I do it this way, and that's why I am at .9 sometimes.

In any event, I figure it is a ballpark. I question the numbers though, because yesterday I added 1/2 cup of tech M and got the following numbers. The 1/2 cup is is based on my total tank volume being about 130-135 gallons. I slowly added 1/4 cup first, and then another 1/4 cup about 6 hours later.

7/4/2014 2:16pm
Alk 7.0 dkh
Ca 400 ppm
Mg 1200
Ph 8.34
Temp 80

According to the Tech M bottle, 130 ml (.54 cup) should raise Mg by about 18ppm. So these numbers still appear in range given the accuracy of the test.

I plan on adding half a cup a day for a few days and monitoring it carefully. I don't want to go higher with the Mg than I need to. I'll keep posting here, and will get some new pics up soon too!


-Morgan

 

[DianaKay]

You sound like you already have a clue what you are doing :yehoo:
I tried again today to use the Red Sea Mg test & I have no idea what I'm doing.
I'm feeling like a dunce trying to use this test :smack: I'm about ready to :tears:

How much Bryopsis do you have started? Can you post a picture so we can see the removal process.
I hope you'll post in both threads....I think it will be helpful for other reefer who are unlucky & have to deal with this awful Bryopsis.

 

[coralrama]

Here's a pic, see the frag plug above it for reference, the bryopsis is about 3 inches scross. It's on new Marco rock that is only a month old, so it certainly grows fast! I have some sprigs on a one other frag plugs so I believe that's where it originated.

 

[coralrama]

Here were my levels this morning (didn't test yesterday as I was off 4th'ing)

7/6 11:46 am
Alk 5.9 dkh
Ca 400 ppm
Mg 1320 ppm
Ph 8.22
Temp 79.3

Calk is dropping, which is expected when raising Mg, I mixed 3 tsp of baking soda with some RODI and slowly added it, as well as another 1/ cup of Mg. (Added a half cup yesterday too).

To answer my own question on the RedSea tests, I think if you end up with between .82 and .85 of titrant in the plunger you've done it correctly. I have to mess with it to get it up to .9, filling and squirting back into the bottle.

Will test alk again in a bit to see if it's come back up a bit.

All corals and fish seem to be fine so far. I'm almost out of Kent tech M, so may have to lay off a few days waiting for it to come in, but that's probably a good thing.

The bryopsis doesn't look any different yet. The patch has grown a bit, but isn't popping up everywhere.

 

[DianaKay]

Thanks for posting your findings, I'm following along closely. My Tech-M is supposed to arrive Wednesday.
All you can share is greatly appreciated. Sending you very best wishes daily. :fingerx:

 

[Wolffman64]

Guys, please note that for the Red Sea test kits, you shouldn't measure the titrant by the actual level of fluid in the syringe, you should use the lover part of the black "plunger" (or whatever the moving thing in the syringe is called). When you fill the syringe up until that black line is at 1.0, the actual fluid level is somewhere between .8 and .9. When you have finished the titration, you again measure by the lower part of the plunger.

Check the instruction video here Diana: http://www.redseafish.com/reef-care-program/reef_foundation_program/mg-magnesium-pro-test-kit/ , at about 3.15 in to the video it shows what I'm talking about...

 

[coralrama]

Thanks Jan, that's what I've been doing. I still seem to get varying amounts of titrant though, but maybe when it's at .9 it's because there's an air bubble in the tip.

 

[DianaKay]

I'm hoping that using a different test kit helps me...I just don't "get it" with this one.
I read the reviews on the Red Sea Mg test & they made me feel not so alone.
My Salifert test kit should be here along with my Kent Tech-M by Thursday (hope tomorrow!!).
Morgan, please keep me posted...I appreciate all you share!

 

[coralrama]

I'm waiting for more tech m now too, which is probably good since my already low alk took a plunge. I've been raising it with baking powder mixed in rodi.

Make sure you test alk, ca, and mg each day as adding mg will affect the others (keep an eye on ph too)

 

[coralrama]

Baking soda, not baking powder

 

[DianaKay]

I'm waiting for more tech m now too, which is probably good since my already low alk took a plunge. I've been raising it with baking powder mixed in rodi.

Make sure you test alk, ca, and mg each day as adding mg will affect the others (keep an eye on ph too)

That's LOTS of testing but I know it's ALL important. I'm not used to having to "chase numbers"

 

[Mark9]

That's LOTS of testing but I know it's ALL important. I'm not used to having to "chase numbers"

The term "chasing numbers" seems to have become a dirty word(s), but its more of a knowing where your numbers are and trying to get them to something at least close.
Choosing to wait until "corals" tell you something is amiss will certainly work, but sometimes it pays to be pro-active.
In my opinion, knowing your numbers doesn't seem like a bad thing.

 

[goma]

You are correct, knowing your numbers is a good thing. For the most part when we tell folks not to chase numbers, we mean not to chase/dose to alter a number that is already in range. For example, the accepted standard for Calcium is 380 - 450 ppm. We'll sometimes have folks that are at 400 ppm and then want to dose to get it to 415 ppm. Those are the things we try and get folks to avoid. Of course if a number is out of range, it is best to find out why and then get it back into range as safely as possible. Also beginner's sometimes don't realize that when they alter one number, how that affects other parameters in their aquarium.