80 Gallon Build

[Frankie]

Hello chichas,
That is good. You may want to change up your method for a month and try just passive flow carbon regiments. Reactors tend to cause channeling from the GAC compressing in the reactor. When channeling occurs less the a 3rd of the GAC in the reactor is being utilized. It builds up a slime and then nitrates and phosphates start thriving within these reactors feeding the tank high doses of nutrients thus in turn providing a fuel source for the Ha.
With passive flow you just put the required amount of carbon in a mesh bag, place it in the sump where there is good flow and knead the bag daily for a few seconds to keep channeling from forming.
Along with what you are doing by removing it manually, doing regular weekly 10% water changes and the carbon I bet you see the Ha dissipate over the next few weeks.
Yeah, I am suggesting shutting off the reactors completely during this time and see what happens. Stop the use of Phos remover during this time also.
Hope this helps you some
Frank

 

[Chichas01]

Time for a way overdue update. 2011 has been a rough one. Lost all fish in July due to a vicious Ich outbreak from adding 3 new fish and not using a QT. Won't make that mistake again.
Then there was a really bad outbreak of dinoflagellates that took a big toll on my corals and had covered most all of my rock and sand. The dino's also wiped out most of the snails and hermits as well. I'd battled algae on the rock for some time so I figured it was time for some big changes. I pulled all the rock and put it into a tub with a heater, small skimmer and it's completely covered so that it's totally blacked out. Then I removed all the sand. Between the rock and the sand, I think they were both fulling my algae and dino problems.
So on to the new plan and rebuild. I've decide not to reuse the majority of my rock and I'm going to go with the FHI Real Reef Rock. I'll keep a couple of choice pieces of the old rock, but even most of what I keep will end up in my sump and not in the display. I'm going to try and really work for an open aquascape to make sure there is plenty of flow around and under the rock work. I'll reuse the rock rack plates but will try and have as little contact between the sand and rock as possible. I'd like to see about a good half to full inch between the sand bed (if I use one again) and the rock.
On a side note, My anemone split so if you want a free anemone (BTA) hit me up and it's all yours. I'm also looking to sell some Pocillipora colonies and some zoas as well. I'll probably post them in the classifieds later this weekend. So on to the pics!

Before:

Dinos!

After:

 

[Saltwater Stu]

Things improve for you?

 

[Chichas01]

they did! http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f70/my-custom-cfi-80-a-62471/