History of a Duffer - the short version

[Duffer]

As requested :redface: (and yes it does increase my post count finally)

Wifee & I started with a 25 hex while we were waiting for this 50 cube to be built

Warning: crappy cell pics ahead. (photobucket is being a pain & won't let me edit for color fix so over-blue'd it has to be)

Stuff & things. Some happily growing like crazy. Some not so much. Some success. Some frustrations. We've been up and running for a couple years now I think









I do 10% change with Kent Reef every week. Salinity=1.025

Fighting pH (especially since it has gotten cold outside & the house is now closed up) which can drift below 7.7 I'm now hitting it with daily kalkwasser 'bumps' to push it back to 8.2ish, limping it along until we make the transfer to the new tank (info to follow) and buy the proper dosing equipment

Ca & Mg are at top of range but Alk is at bottom of range. I'll recheck this now that I've been kalk spiking for pH

Phosphate being held to near zero by GFO reactor. Nitrate a constant battle at 4ppm. Fishies get half cube of frozen Formula One (or Formula Two rotated) once a day and they wipe it out in mere minutes.

System has a 20ish sump & nice skimmer. Reefkeeper. ATO system (now with kalk also) Few snails, 1 shrimp, 2 clowns, 1 tang, 1 sifter, 1 six line, 1 Pajama, 1 clam. Plus the above pics.

 

[Duffer]

Continued:

I picked up a 300gal system earlier this year. I refer to it as my 'truckload purchase' That it was. Got it home and wifee said, "Oh nooooo. You ain't putting that huge thing in this house!" I might have went a little overboard. So I sold off some parts and traded that tank for this 180 gallon system:



with about a 55g sump and a hood. I have lights on order from Oceans by Design. The tank now in position, mostly landscaped and circulating:




I had to do a little redesign on the side cabinet. Shortened that center support enough to lower the top shelf so the RODI unit would fit



The sump has a new skimmer (I'm trying not to steal any bits from the 50 cube so it will be turn-key when I sell it) I will transfer the Reefkeeper tho:



and next comes plumbing

 

[Duffer]

Our place has no basement so my RODI barrel, saltwater barrel and closed loop pump will be (mostly are already) in a shed which is up against the house just to the right of the tank. Plumbing is being punched thru the floor behind that cabinet, thru the crawl space and into the shed. The drain is plumbed via the same path but into our drain curtain. Here's the drain:


I don't have a pic of this yet, but the emergency overflow (elbow inside sump) runs into the drain as will a valve from the sump pump's outlet. This will allow me to pump water out with just a twist of one valve for water changes.

The RODI feed line and waste line are plumbed. The barrels and C.L. pump are plumbed from shed to crawl space. The C.L. plumbing is also run thru the floor. That just leaves me crawling under the house (yet again!) to connect it all and insulate everything. I'm still stewing about how to pump water to the tank for refilling after water changes without running yet another stretch of pvc, and while having control from at the tank so I can turn it off and on and still watch the tank's level.

 

[IPisces]

VERY SWEET! So you are setting up the 180, are you keeping the cube too?

Great zoa colonies. love those!.

 

[SkimHeavy]

Those are some good sized paly colonies!

 

[trido]

Great build so far. I love that you're using a shed outside and will have it plumbed into the french drain outside the house. This will make your tank very quiet (provided the sump is out there) in the house and will make WC's so easy.

 

[Duffer]

Notes:

Once the 180 is ready, all of the cube stuff will be transfered and the cube will be sold. I don't have the energy to keep up with both of them

I did a pH experiment on our cube. Lights went out and it dropped to 7.9 I bubbled 'inside the house' air thru a sample and IT WENT DOWN to 7.8! I then bubbled the same sample, only in the garage, and within 15 minutes it was up to 8.1 So it looks like while I'm punching holes in the floor, I'll add another one for air supplied to the new skimmer!

The closed loop & such will be outside but the sump is inside. I lobbied for an outside sump too but wifee wanted it inside, where it is more convenient to check. I can't argue with that logic. I do check it multiple times a day. I have had to begin noise abatement activities tho (of course) The used 1000gph pump that I'm running under there works great but has a buzz/hummmm. (See next point) I've tweaked my dursos cuz they were slurping, padded the plumbing away from the stand in the sump area, added a bend to the bottom of the outflow pipe (going into the sump), and added a strip of filter material to the inside of each overflow weir where there was trickling sounds. Next will be to add some insulating panels. New hinges helped alot too since the doors close better now.

AFA the pump: I ordered a new 1000gph-ish Iwaki thru an Amazon vendor. Great price! Took a few weeks to find out that Iwaki is out of stock and won't start catching up until some time in December. I got a refund. IPisces & I have been discussing his 2000gph-ish Iwaki (which is the exact same pump I'm using for my closed loop but way too much flow for my sump) about whether or not it can be restricted BY THAT MUCH without hurting the pump or really cranking up the amperage draw. ???

 

[Duffer]

I finished the crawl space plumbing! Wahoo

After some discussion about "how to keep the RODI line from freezing", I have those 2 lines taped up against the closed loop plumbing in a nice bundle. Keeps the RODI lines warm while cooling the tank (a bit)

Once fired up, I had to buy a new ball valve for the saltwater supply line (for water changing) as none of my old valves would hold against the Iwaki's suction. The old valves were leaking just a bit of air into the pump which in turn was pumping micro-bubbles into the tank. The new valve is holding just fine.

Here's a shot of where my water change outlet goes into the drain curtain

 

[Duffer]

Notes:

...I did a pH experiment on our cube. Lights went out and it dropped to 7.9 I bubbled 'inside the house' air thru a sample and IT WENT DOWN to 7.8! I then bubbled the same sample, only in the garage, and within 15 minutes it was up to 8.1 So it looks like while I'm punching holes in the floor, I'll add another one for air supplied to the new skimmer!......

On the 50 cube: I've run a tube from the skimmer thru the window, plus set up an air pump outside with a couple of air stones in the sump. pH is now more steady but still swings 7.8 - 8.1 Holds a steady 8.0 all day long. I checked my other variables. Ca is even higher. Well above the target range (as expected with the kalk additions) Mg high, Alk now in range but still low. So the fresh air helped, but did not solvemy pH problem. I'll be running outside air to the 180's skimmer for sure. Just need a bit of hose.

 

[glweek]

Looks great! Fallowing qlong

Sent from my LG-E739 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Duffer]

Weekend update:

It was nice to see some familiar faces at OBD Saturday. Thank you to those who gave the 'clinics'!

Wifee went fishie shopping and I picked up our lights. Then it was back home to start the teardown. Since we are pushing the cycle a bit, Mike set me up with some bacteria additives. Of course, all of the live rock from the 50 cube plus all of its sand was also transfered. I'll be doing daily water tests for a while with water change supplies at the ready. Tank is clearing slowly:

Everything seems really happy so far. The instructions for programming the lights are horrible but I've got them running. Just one day at 40% already has things stretching for the light, so I've kicked them up to 50% now.

I got the Reefkeeper transfered too. It was nice to discover that my smaller heater (The one I ran in the 25hex) could not keep up with the cooling effect of the crawl space closed loop. Swapped it out for a bigger heater. No probs. ATO seems to be working fine also.

You can see the floating plastic colander? It's full of my transfered Chaeto. The sump isn't set up yet the way I want it (I have strange new plans so stay tuned) so for now this actually works pretty well! (if you ignore how it looks)

I played with the C.L. system a bit more. It has been pumping micro-bubbles into the tank like crazy. I replaced one bad valve. I plugged that open nipple just in case. I tightened up all of the threaded connections. No change. I finally started closing the Iwaki's outlet valve. I figured at some point the flow rate would decrease enough that the 'pull' on the inlet side of the system would quit drawing in air (from wherever the source). It worked, but it's not optimal. Sux to have to slow the closed loop any. Even wide open it's not as much turbulance as I'd like. Lesson here: Supply your pump, especially on long runs like this one (30-40 feet each way) with larger diameter pipe so it flows free!

The pump could be pulling air thru its own seals too. It is a used pump after all and the seals are designed to hold pressure I suspect. They may not hold vacuum even when new. Our Koralias go in as soon as I get them vinegar soaked/cleaned up. They are pretty crusty

I love a challenge tho!

 

[Duffer]

Numbers:
Salinity = 1.025 with Kent Reef Salt
pH = 7.93 (still low, just like how the 50 cube was even tho the 180 skimmer is pulling fresh air)
Temp = 77 (holding nicely with the cooling effect of the crawl space closed loop)
Alkalinity = 7.3dkh (also low, just like the 50 cube. Research testing below)
Ammonia = zero
Nitrate = 0.5 (I hit the tank with Dr. Tims as Mike@OBD recommended since only about 30% of live rock and sand was well established and the rest only cycled about a month)
Calcium = 535 (high. I hear this is typical for Kent Reef)
Magnesium = 1460 (also high - Kent Reef)
and finally phosphate = 5.0! by color test BUT... 1.9 by Hanna low PO4 tester. (also see research below)

So I checked a couple of things and added half the recommended Sodium Bicarb to start kicking up the Alkalinity

1) I've always seen a BIG difference between the color titration phosphate test vs the Hanna tester. Not sure which one to believe but right now neither reading is acceptable. Fired up fresh Phosban right away.

2) RODI phosphate = zero so the phosphate has to be coming from the rocks! It''s not fish food cuz they have only been in the tank for 2 days. ...unless the Dr. Tims?

3) Fresh Kent Reef solution well mixed and ready for water change - alkalinity = 9.1 So the Kent Reef is about mid range before it hits the tank and then falls. Hmmmm.

 

[Duffer]

The 2 Tbs of Sodium Bicarb raised the Alk from 7.2 to 8.1 I hit if again this morn. I'd like to coax it up to about 10. pH seems a bit better. Still under 8 but barely now and holding better.

I tried to do a few more pics. Some posted in the Zoas thread. Here's others. Sorry about this 1st one. I tried to show how nicely the cabinet and system fit (purely by luck) together and in that dining room alcove but my phone couldn't handle all the light. I edited it up as bright as I could.





This shot turned out so nice I had to post it twice!









Now this guy we've had for quite a while and I just cannot figure out what he wants/needs!



and finally here's a good shot of my lil flatworm problem. I'm hoping to find a fishie addition to control them.

 

[Mark2]

Have you tried adjusting your alk by dosing sodium carbonate (soda ash)? As the alk raises, the calcium will drop. It'll definitely also help with your PH.

 

[Mark2]

I hear melanurus (sp?) wrasses can be a natural predator to flat worms, but I've had no experiences with wrasses yet. So don't quote me on that.

 

[Duffer]

Have you tried adjusting your alk by dosing sodium carbonate (soda ash)? As the alk raises, the calcium will drop. It'll definitely also help with your PH.

I have not. This was a 'try adjusting with what I have available' kind of thing. My Kent Reef salt low alkalinity situation has been ongoing. I've never tried to adjust it. I just did my weekly 10% water changes. Fish seemed fat & happy. Zoas did great. but other corals we've tried have not been so happy and I'd like to 'run a tighter ship' with this 180 :usa2:

Had OBD had a melanarus when we were down there last weekend, I would have bought him. We have a 6-line but he's apparently not interested in them. He is obviously keeping other things in check tho cuz he's a hippo with fins! We did pick up a cute little goby but I don't thing he will help. Busy lil guy tho!

Thanx for the input btw!

 

[Duffer]

Happy lil guy!



Phosphates down to 0.18 from 1.9 since firing up the T.L.F. GFO reactor. as an fyi: I've used the cheapest GFO that I can buy online and its worked quite well! It just needs a really good rinse first.

Nitrates down to 0.25 from last measure of 0.50

After hitting the tank with another 3tbs of Baking Soda the alkalinity is up to 9.3 so a total of 5tbs raised alk from 7.3 to 9.3 since startup

pH is also now holding much better at 8.02

Calcium has not changed at about 550

Starting to see some diatom bloom as expected with a semi-cycle restart

 

[Mark2]

Much better! The calcium will go down eventually. Once it does and gets to where you want it, you can start dosing or just do your regular water changes to keep it steady.

 

[Duffer]

Just a quick update:

The anemone has split again. Guess he's happy! :cheer2:

Picked up a Bio reactor from Mike at OBD on our last visit. Will fire it up soon.

I guess my 'no-freeze' RODI plumbing design works! I think we got as low as 19 degrees this week (outside) and everything seems to be working just fine. It was interesting tho that the crawlspace-closed loop system cooled so much during that period that our heater could not quite keep up and the tank temp dropped 0.3 degrees. It normally holds rock solid at 77.0F

I've received the electric valve that I'll try out for my water change system (so I can operate it from inside the house) but I did figure out a working solution in the mean time. With wifee's help this 1st time, I opened the branched inlet valve on the C.L. system to allow the C.L. pump to draw up the 25 gallons of clean, equilibrated, warmed salt water from the barrel in the shed. The flow was slow but steady which is cool beans. Our sump has an emergency overflow plumbed in so about half way thru 'the change', the sump starts to overflow into the waste pipe. That was what I needed wifee to watch. Make sure the overflow could keep up with the clean saltwater addition. I just wait in the shed until the barrel of fresh is empty. Close the valve and head inside. Now the sump has probably 5 gallons too much saltwater. (difference between the normal operating sump level and the emergency overflow level) so I open the other valve that I have plumbed directly into the drain and allow the sump pump to pump out the excess water. Lesson learned tho that I need to stop pumping to drain early so as to let the system balance again. (sump to tank to drainback) I overshot by about a gallon I figure. No biggie. Pretty easy actually. Not a 'pure water change' since there is mixing of clean & existing before the drain but I'm not gonna sweat that. The clean gets pumped into the center of the tank. Corners overflow to the sump and the sump drains to waste. It's kinda nice that I can do all this while still running the rest of the system. (skimmer, sump recirculation, C.L., heat, etc) I don't have to turn off anything. And I don't have to get all wound up about volumes, other than how much salt to add to the barrel of RODI.

Unfortunately, we are dealing with a problem too. Mike @ OBD is helping us and I appreciate it so much. Mid-way thru treatment and so far, so good. I'm not ready to write it up yet, if ever. Another week and I'll have a better grasp of the outcome.

 

[Duffer]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all arty:

Between Holiday travels, work & etceteras we've been super busy this last couple weeks. I promised an update once things calmed down so here it is. Also my excuse for lack of participation as of late.:typing:

The OBD reactor is now running. Really simple. The only issue I see so far is that the outlet has a little screen on it (to keep the media in) but it also catches the Chaeto that escapes my fuge. Just a few strands so far. Hoping it doesn't restrict flow at some point where I have to open it up and clean it off, not that it's a tough chore or anything with the new cool easy-twist lid .

The water changing process has turned out to be quite simple. Not automated, but nary a bucket to lift and pretty quick. If I get the time, I still have that electric valve to install & test out. That would allow me total control from inside the house instead of step 1 being outside (in the water shed) and step 2 inside (under the tank).

I was fiddling with ball valves on the C.L. and I think I discovered which one was causing the microbubbles by allowing air into the pump inlet, so that seems to be resolved. (95% anyway)

I ordered a couple powerheads which really cranked up the ocean motion. Corals are mucho happy. Fish a bit less so.

Speaking of fish: Here's the short of it. We got our 1st case of Marine Ich. Crazy strong strain. No excuse, just conplacency. You know the story. "Never had a problem before not setting up a quarantine tank". Followed by the, "I don't have time to deal with this right now so I'll try one of these Reef Safe treatments". The end result being that I now have the quarantine tank set up, and copper'd up, and out of the FOUR FISH LEFT that survived the initial attack, I have only managed to trap 2 of them. Neither the Firetail nor the Coral Beauty have any interest in getting near that flippin box even tho I feed them exclusively from inside it. Eventually some food floats out of it plus I s'pose there's mass quantities of stuff for them to nibble on beings they are only 2 little fish in 200 gallons of tank! I tried the little mirror trick. No interest from either of them. I looked into the 'sudden dark to light' trick but once the lights go out these 2 hide somewhere behind the rocks. They are like gone!

I'm obviously pretty frustrated. Wifee cried for every fish I laid to rest. :Cry: For a stretch there it was one a day! The 1st couple had no visible signs at all and a couple more just plain disappeared, so I was paralized by what to do at first. Then the hammer fell. Hard. The 'Reef Safe' treatment gave me a false sense of success as it immediately halted the losses... for one week. The treatment is 2 weeks long so I ran it just like it said. The 2nd week Ich came roaring back. By the end I just assumed we would lose them all. I couldn't stop it and I couldn't catch/move them fast enough. I had to mail-order a trap (over Christmas no less) which added even more to my response time.

So I'm stuck, frustrated and pissed at myself. 2 fish on day 3 of copper treatment but 2 more uncatchable which means I can't start the clock on 'fallowing' the reef tank for the necessary couple of months.

In today's frustration, I was really close to just moving the quarantined 2 back into the 200 and just letting it ride for a year, but: I read that that's not a for sure way to kill off the Ich and I WILL lose wifee support of this hobby if we are basically fishless for an entire year. (personally, after this disaster, I'm starting to like the idea)

I have a couple more ideas on catching them but I'm gonna need more time. (gotta remove lights, covers, hood, etc) I guess it's gotta be done. No way around it. hwell: