Rhodes19's 180 build (slow Build)
- Thread starter Rhodes19
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Rhodes19
Active Member
Thanks Juan, I appreciate it. 
I'm feeling better today. I'm going to have to try a gluten free diet for a couple of weeks and see it that helps things. Gluten is a major food sensitivity and is known to reek havoc with sinuses. Trying to avoid gluten will be fun though, its so ubiquitous and is in so many food products and it's typically listed under a different, obscure name.
Anyway, maybe I can get started on the wc set up this weekend. My daughter and son in law may be down for a visit, maybe I can enlist their help.
I'm feeling better today. I'm going to have to try a gluten free diet for a couple of weeks and see it that helps things. Gluten is a major food sensitivity and is known to reek havoc with sinuses. Trying to avoid gluten will be fun though, its so ubiquitous and is in so many food products and it's typically listed under a different, obscure name.
Anyway, maybe I can get started on the wc set up this weekend. My daughter and son in law may be down for a visit, maybe I can enlist their help.
Rhodes19
Active Member
We do, its actually just around the corner. One of my favorite stores. Now, trying to get the diet changed at home is a completely different story!!! LOL
I had a couple of ideas on your algae issue, FWIW. I wonder if, as the algae dies, it's not releasing nutrients back into the system? I would suck out the stuff as often as you can, you probably already are, but I thought I'd mention it just in case. Also, all food contains phosphate, it's one of the building blocks of almost all life, so be sure not to overfeed, or better yet, skip feeding for a couple of days and see what happens to your phosphates.
I don't know that either will help, but certainly can't hurt.
I don't know that either will help, but certainly can't hurt.
Rhodes19
Active Member
LOL. Thanks Steve,
I've been working on getting my water quality better before I add any more coral or fish (really hard to do) and have learned a few things. I was doing frequent wc weekly for a while but my trates and phos were usually present. I got a Hanna Checker for the phos testing and an Elos for the trate testing so I could get accurate readings (was using Tetra and Nutri test kits). I got a biopellet reactor and some biopellets and they did a great job of bringing down the trats and phos and most of the algae died off, made a return, started to die off again and now is making a return. Turns out it's bryopsis. My trates are at 0 according to the Elos test kit and the Hanna Checker got as low as 0.09. Supposedly, I am nitrogen limited and that's why the phos won't drop any more. It actually started to go up and the bryopsis returned. I've been adding nitrogen by Brightwell to get the biopellets (the bacteria actually) working again and bring down the phos. The more nitrogen I added, the more the phos went up. It went from 0.09 to 0.44 over the last 2 weeks and the bryopsis became stronger, gha returned and now I have a bunch of cyano and I haven't had that for over a year now. So much for adding nitrogen. You can see bubbles all over the cyano, gha and the bryopsis so it looks like its dieing but there is no reduction. I rearly feed flake, I made my own mush, and I'll feed mysis shrimp. I'll feed every other day and add green or purple algae in between feeding once or twice a week for the tangs (even though most of the fish will pick at it). I read that high levels of Mg will kill off the bryopsis so I raised the level to around 1750 and its been there for 2 weeks but I'm not seeing any change in the bryopsis. Found out later that you need to use Kent's Tech M magnesium (apparently, there is something else in there that kills the bryopsis) so I ordered some and hopefully it will be here today. This weekend I'm planning on doing some big wc and suck out as much cyano, gha, and ripped off bryopsis as I can, then slowly bring the Mg back up to a high level using Tech M and see what happens. If I can, I'll pull some of the rocks out, scrape off as much bryopsis as I can, then rinse it off with hydrogen peroxide (supposedly kills bryopsis but doesn't hurt the corals. I'll test it on a piece and see what happens).
Anyway, I think the biopellets work but not on bryopsis. Once I can get all of it out for good, any new piece of coral I get will be scrubbed, dipped, and maybe cut off the plug (throw the plug away) before the coral goes into the tank. My daughter and son in law are coming in for the weekend)) so I'll probably only do the wc. I'll pull the rocks out later to give them a good scrubbing.
I've been working on getting my water quality better before I add any more coral or fish (really hard to do) and have learned a few things. I was doing frequent wc weekly for a while but my trates and phos were usually present. I got a Hanna Checker for the phos testing and an Elos for the trate testing so I could get accurate readings (was using Tetra and Nutri test kits). I got a biopellet reactor and some biopellets and they did a great job of bringing down the trats and phos and most of the algae died off, made a return, started to die off again and now is making a return. Turns out it's bryopsis.
My trates are at 0 according to the Elos test kit and the Hanna Checker got as low as 0.09. Supposedly, I am nitrogen limited and that's why the phos won't drop any more. It actually started to go up and the bryopsis returned. I've been adding nitrogen by Brightwell to get the biopellets (the bacteria actually) working again and bring down the phos. The more nitrogen I added, the more the phos went up. It went from 0.09 to 0.44 over the last 2 weeks and the bryopsis became stronger, gha returned and now I have a bunch of cyano and I haven't had that for over a year now. So much for adding nitrogen. You can see bubbles all over the cyano, gha and the bryopsis so it looks like its dieing but there is no reduction. I rearly feed flake, I made my own mush, and I'll feed mysis shrimp. I'll feed every other day and add green or purple algae in between feeding once or twice a week for the tangs (even though most of the fish will pick at it). I read that high levels of Mg will kill off the bryopsis so I raised the level to around 1750 and its been there for 2 weeks but I'm not seeing any change in the bryopsis. Found out later that you need to use Kent's Tech M magnesium (apparently, there is something else in there that kills the bryopsis) so I ordered some and hopefully it will be here today. This weekend I'm planning on doing some big wc and suck out as much cyano, gha, and ripped off bryopsis as I can, then slowly bring the Mg back up to a high level using Tech M and see what happens. If I can, I'll pull some of the rocks out, scrape off as much bryopsis as I can, then rinse it off with hydrogen peroxide (supposedly kills bryopsis but doesn't hurt the corals. I'll test it on a piece and see what happens). Anyway, I think the biopellets work but not on bryopsis. Once I can get all of it out for good, any new piece of coral I get will be scrubbed, dipped, and maybe cut off the plug (throw the plug away) before the coral goes into the tank. My daughter and son in law are coming in for the weekend
)) so I'll probably only do the wc. I'll pull the rocks out later to give them a good scrubbing.
jpsika08
Well-Known Member
Chris, just posted my water depot pics here, sorry for the late response
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...plastic-barrels-water-storage.html#post966624
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...plastic-barrels-water-storage.html#post966624
Rhodes19
Active Member
Thanks Rob. Just bought 2 Koralia Evolution 1400, that should help give some with better flow. They'll be shipped out Tuesday.
Rhodes19
Active Member
Chris, just posted my water depot pics here, sorry for the late response
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...plastic-barrels-water-storage.html#post966624
Thanks Juan, I appreciate it. I like how you have it set up. I think I'm going to steal your design.
That will make things a lot cleaner and easier to use.
Rhodes19
Active Member
Hey buddy, thanks for helping me move that workbench today!!
You're welcome buddy. I think you're going to get a lot of good use out of it.
Howdy Chris, sorry to hear about the trouble with the algae. Not sure how much room you have in the sump/fug, but I have had very little trouble with that, and I'm not running a skimmer or pelets. I just have a big ball of cheato (like toddler soccerball big) turning in my fug, on like 10 hours of light from one of those 75watt floricent flood light replacment bulbs. My fug is pretty ugly and have to scrap my display glass every 2 or 3 days with the mag, but my rock is pretty clear in the display. I do get some of the red/brown algae that covers the rock here and there but if you tweak the flow some or squirt it with turkey baster it comes right up and get get caught and taken out of the tank. Good luck.
Rhodes19
Active Member
Hi Chris,
Thanks. I tried cheato for for about 9 months but it never grew and didn't do anything for the trates of phos so I finally got rid of it when I got the skimmer. I recently read that if the Mg level is low, the cheato won't grow. Hey, that could be a catchy phrase, "if the Mg level is low, the coral won't grow". I like that. The biopellets did help with the algae but the problem I'm having now is with the bryopsis. I guess low nutrient levels don't affect it. I just got some Kent's Tech M which at a high levels is supposed to kill off the bryopsis so I'll be giving that a try shortly. I want to do one more big water change, pull the rocks with the bryopsis on it and scrub the heck out of it before I ad the Tech M. I think when I dosed with nitrogen in order to reduce the phos is when the gha and cyano came back big time. Hopefully I'll have some time this Sunday to work on it.
Thanks. I tried cheato for for about 9 months but it never grew and didn't do anything for the trates of phos so I finally got rid of it when I got the skimmer. I recently read that if the Mg level is low, the cheato won't grow. Hey, that could be a catchy phrase, "if the Mg level is low, the coral won't grow". I like that.
The biopellets did help with the algae but the problem I'm having now is with the bryopsis. I guess low nutrient levels don't affect it. I just got some Kent's Tech M which at a high levels is supposed to kill off the bryopsis so I'll be giving that a try shortly. I want to do one more big water change, pull the rocks with the bryopsis on it and scrub the heck out of it before I ad the Tech M. I think when I dosed with nitrogen in order to reduce the phos is when the gha and cyano came back big time. Hopefully I'll have some time this Sunday to work on it.