unrelated to my tank, but worth reading, AND it it a true story!
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f27/shocking-story-67842/#post704372
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f27/shocking-story-67842/#post704372
Lost Creek 270
- Thread starter LostCreekReefer
- Start date
Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:
I am using the second of the Dr. Tim's bacterial products. I was advised to start with a lower dose of the liquid, so I used a 1/4th recommended dosage. Skimmer back on after 20 hours and has been making a lot of dilute skimmate....that strangely looks like the liquid that I put in originally! Guess I'm growin' bacteria. 3 of the skimmer overflows worth so far in 4 hours of skimming.
yeppers...skimmate! and lots of it!
yeppers...skimmate! and lots of it!
Kevin - how is your Dr. Tim's working our for you? Now that you've used the products for awhile, I was wondering if you're seeing some improvements in the hair algae? Always the researcher, I ran across this too, and was intrigued by the microbiology of it. Mr. Saltwater Tank's interview of Dr. Tim was very interesting. BTW, I'm sorry I didn't see your posts earlier looking for input . . . I have considered an algae turf scrubber myself, but am going to use GFO and chaeto for now, with the option of installing one down the road now that I have a sump.
Last edited:
Hi Kim - Belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and all my fellow reefers!....funny you should mention this subject, I was just talking to CarlaW this morning about stuff, including this very subject. So I was all gung-ho to put a reactor in w/ Dr Tim's bio-pellets and just DO IT to the algae :laser: .
So I did a few messages back and forth w/ Dr. Tim's e-shop, turns out I was conversing w/ 'the Dr. Tim' his-self! He is very accessible, and helpful. He recommended I NOT use a reactor initially, but get things under control first then we'll talk about a reactor somewhere down the road (take a deep breath, relax, look down the road a bit); also no GFO, no carbon. So fine, I followed his advice. I've been using the pictured Waste-Away product for about 2 months. I have been just putting the liquid = bacterial culture = liquid slime (not really slime), in the return section of my sump for distribution throughout the whole system. Dr Tim recommended dosing every 2 - 3rd day (q2-3days) and build it up over time; so I started at a half dose initially (dose is related to system volume), did that for 3 weeks, then 2/3 dose q3days for 3 weeks, now at full dose q3days. The rational for the building up the dose over time is to avoid clouding of the water with really high bac't growth with lotsa food to grow with (too many bacteria causing possible low oxygen in the water and other problems); I have never had a clouding issue, so no worries. After dosing I unplug the skimmer for a day (Dr Tim recc'd 12-24 hours) to allow the bacteria to multiple unmolested, then turn it back on and skim off the extra bacteria. the first 3 times I did this routine I had skimmer explosions for 2 or 3 collection cup fulls in under 6 hours = LOTSA bacteria. the skimmate looked like what I'd put in in the first place :exclaim: . So this is what I've done with the bacterial additive so far; discreet dosing, then skimming, no reactor (yet).
We were gone for the last 2 weeks for a Christmas vacation to Hawaii (dirty job, somebody's gotta do it; I raised my hand first). We had a house sitter taking care of things for us including the SW aquarium. She did no Dr. Tim's Waste-Away dosing for 2 weeks we were gone, just cleaned the glass with the magnetic scraper and other routine stuff.
Last night I got home at about 9PM pretty well wiped from the layovers on the return trip; I cautiously tip-toed downstairs to the aquarium to see what was going on. My impression of the acrylic and aquarium was rather interesting; in an excellent sort of way! The algae growth over time is a small fraction of what it has been before I started the Waste-Away dosing. the normal bright green algae on the acrylic takes 4 - 5 days to be seen now (rather than 2 days) AND both the hair algae and the harder tan-green stuff that crops up on the acrylic (along with the thin green sheen) are growing at 1/10th - 1/4 the former rate of growth; all are a vast improvement. Also the rest of the hair algae has poorer (less luxuriant?) growth and more of it gets broken off and caught in the overflows. I am very happy with the trend; notice I did not say the resolution of the problem. That will take a while yet, and once the algae is pretty much gone, Dr. Tim recommends I talk to him THEN about the bio-pellet reactor thingy.
Originally I was looking at some sort of algal turf scrubber, but the Dr. Tim's web site points out that the bacteria grow faster (a shorter doubling time = shorter generation time) than the algae does, and the bacteria do not need light, just the water with the pollutants you need to remove mixed in it (Phosphates and Nitrates). But being a Microbiologist, once a gain I am seeing that 'Better living through Microbiology' is still very true (not to be confused with 'Better living through Chemicals' ...but they can be related through microbiological fermentation that yields ethanol, the best of both worlds!) I hope this helps even if it is too long. Mebbe I'll snap some pics of what's going on in the next couple of days before I do some more clean up & continue with the treatments
Short story = I bought the juice, they told me how to use it, I did that, skimmed it off, it is helping. Dose, Skim, Repeat.
Well.................... that is almost 2 beers worth of words, and worse yet, I think I understood it:jaw:
I think I am going to go with the "better living thru beer", theory, and call this good
.
Kevin, all in all, it sounds like progress is being made, and look at my sig line that has withstood the tests of time, and also my patience, I believe in that and hope to God your hair algae goes away.
Did any of what I said make sense?
I think I am going to go with the "better living thru beer", theory, and call this good
.Kevin, all in all, it sounds like progress is being made, and look at my sig line that has withstood the tests of time, and also my patience, I believe in that and hope to God your hair algae goes away.
Did any of what I said make sense?
BLTB = My Motto; significant progress from the looks of it for sure;yes it made sense to me (either we are both crazy in similar ways or great minds think alike...you choose)I think I am going to go with the "better living thru beer", theory, and call this good
Kevin, all in all, it sounds like progress is being made, and look at my sig line that has withstood the tests of time, and also my patience, I believe in that and hope to God your hair algae goes away.
Did any of what I said make sense?
I am gonna go with your second thought here Kevin, great minds do think alike....................... which if I were you, I would run...........................LOL.
Hi Devon - GFO...I have been using GFO to no avail for over a year. I'm hoping this approach will make the GFO use unnecessary down the road. I'm gonna go home and dump in some bacteria right now! oh boy!
Excellent . . . I'm so glad you documented your progress and let us know what you were doing. Keep us posted and yes, please . . . post some pictures and full tank shots! I have never seen your tank in person
Did you go snorkeling in Hawaii? See any cool stuff? Any pictures?
Did you go snorkeling in Hawaii? See any cool stuff? Any pictures?
Last edited:
I will get some current pics of my tank on here soon, had an emergency at the clinic last night (dog vs barbed wire; BW won) so I was exhausted from the longish trip home and working for 12ish hours yesterday. I am still in unpacking mode, get the tank related maintenance chores back in line, things back to normal before the power gets knocked out (it sounds like this weekend maybe) and all that jazz mode right now. The lack/vast slow down of new growth of the algae is the most telling fact, I think.
Did I go snorkeling?: Yes, all but 1 of 15 days on the Big Island (scuba counts as 'snorkeling', just more work and more fun!). We arrived at 3 PM and got a snorkel in before dark; perfect! Cool stuff?: Yes! Nudibranchs, sharks, Manta Rays, Octopus, multiple Eels (numbers and species), we head pretty loud whale song the second day of scuba diving and dozens of species of various angels, butterflies, tangs, hawkfish, trumpetfish, boxfish, Damsels, Chromis, Anthius and so forth. My son-in-law and I found a rock arch ~15 - 20 feet down that we both snorkeled through. Any pictures?: We have an underwater OK point & shoot camera that I was in charge of = hundreds of pictures, dozens of GOOD ones! :becky:
Hi Kim - I don't know why your post got chopped short, here is the whole of what you posted to this thread:Excellent . . . I'm so glad you documented your progress and let us know what you were doing. Keep us posted and yes, please . . . post some pictures and full tank shots! I have never seen your tank in person
Did you go snorkeling in Hawaii? See any cool stuff? Any pictures?
From Kamar:
Well that's really cool that you were talking to Tim himself! He sound like a really interesting guy. I think that GFO, and medias like it, only help to prevent an algae outbreak. Once it starts growing, you're only keeping it held back, with great expense, and GFO will not cure the problem. This is where I'm at with my 36. I've honestly kind of given up since everything is getting transferred anyway. Eventually, with any tank, nutrients / phosphates will build up over time and become a problem, and I think the solution is multi-pronged. Good old bacteria - the oldest organism on the planet - can be put to good use if one understands it. So many people are afraid of bacteria - anti-bacterial everything - but don't realize that you need bacteria. Ever hear of kefir? It's fermented milk made with probiotic kefir grains left out on the counter to culture for about 24 hours. Yup, I drink it, and it's very good for your digestive system.
I'm so glad that you're seeing results with your tank . . . and esp after being gone and leaving it in the hands of a sitter. They can't take care of it or observe like it's owner. In the 75 I'm algae free so far, but of course the tank is only approaching 2 months old, and I'm living on borrowed time, I'm sure, so I want to prevent algae from growing in the first place.
I'm really interested in the nuts and bolts of this. I think I got a lot of phosphate out of my rock with my method, but I need to keep it that way!! I'm really thinking about incorporating Dr. Tim's products in my preventative maintenance.
Excellent . . . I'm so glad you documented your progress and let us know what you were doing. Keep us posted and yes, please . . . post some pictures and full tank shots! I have never seen your tank in person
Did you go snorkeling in Hawaii? See any cool stuff? Any pictures?
***back to the reply***
I'm really excited to see how much more each dosing of the Waste Away will accomplish; I am getting tired of cleaning out the overflows as more & more algae gets caught, but I take it as a good thing! I have several very large coral colonies that will get fragged and that will both improve flow and get rid of large bunches of algae. I took out a red Bird's nest ans was just amazed at the dead underside and the size and 12# weight of the thing...it was huge! I have some coral that will have the tips out of the water when I clean the overflows from the display, now about 1/2" out. OK hoping for pics tonight! KD.
Parrot-Head
Well-known member
I also vote for BLTB and yes, great minds think alike, add me to the list of crazy, half baked nuts that love this hobby and the beer
kevin archie
Member
Beautiful tank!
I'm going to show you the tank,just not so beautiful; also the ongoing cleanup after vacation. Folks have been asking for pics, here they are!
What I came home to on Tuesday night, really quite better than I expected; no cleaning at all:
Full tank
Right End
Left End
Looks pretty nasty, but it's not that bad!
Cleaned the acrylic with the Magnivore 600, an improvement:
Tank
Right end
Left End
Scraped the acrylic on the right side.
Partial Front Scrape on the right end
Frag Tank from Tuesday night:
This is where I can tell the algae is slowing it's growth vastly. I harvested and siphoned much debris from this tank about 3-1/2 weeks prior to our return from Hawaii, this is the get home picture. What I expected (what would have been there under normal circumstances) prior to the bacterial dosing would have been 1/2 of the volume (water column) full of algae....really! There are still bare rock surfaces visible, just astonishing (to me at least)!
Thanx Kevin, good to see some progress............................ but tell me, if I brought my camera down would you clean all the coralline?
Just keep waiting it out, perseverance will win
Just keep waiting it out, perseverance will win
Also Marco is growing:
Puppy 1st day (about 15#), watching a football game:
Big brother Roy teaching him what dead deer are for:
Get the cat:
What IS all this stuff???
Sleeping today after not really getting into the Frisbee (at 44#)
Puppy 1st day (about 15#), watching a football game:
Big brother Roy teaching him what dead deer are for:
Get the cat:
What IS all this stuff???
Sleeping today after not really getting into the Frisbee (at 44#)
Great doggie pics.................. LOL. just a growing little eating machine
Thanx Kevin, good to see some progress............................ but tell me, if I brought my camera down would you clean all the coralline?
Just keep waiting it out, perseverance will win
I am working on the coralline, the left of center part is the problem; I have to frag those 2 large colonies first to get at the acrylic, just working up the gumption. I cannot get in there with out excoriating my arms, then the sharks attack!
Eating-sleeping-pooping machine. More pics on photobucket.
