The last day of the year 2010

[ac7av]

Well it’s the last day of the year 2010 and I have been feeling discourage and almost annoyed looking in my tank. Its getting close to a year that its been set up again and things are not where I expected them to be when I started it up again. I really thought things would be looking more mature. The tank in general still has the look and feel of a tank that was just set up. No coralline algae, not much color and the soft corals I have, have no color to them. And a lot more then not these last couple of months looking more upset about something. My ricordias are shrinking, GSP on the right side fo the tank hasn’t opened up fully in months but the one on the left looks fine. The Xenia look great and the RBTA look great. The Xenia has expanded 10X in the time they have been in the tank. The GSP has increased 8X but now looks sickly. The Leathers will one day look awesome and the other short, shriveled, and sickly looking. In any one day and one of a pare of leathers could look awesome and the other looking like its dying. I cant seem to keep a stony coral alive in this thing for more then 5 minutes. And that mite be an exaggeration.

Yes the fish are all doing great but that’s the only constant. With the resent events with the lights, trying to get the “good lights” has left me in another problem. The new lights don’t get up to full power for some reason. So the color is not right and the energy output is not what I think some of the corals need, and the RBTA is reaching for the light. Im only getting 160 out of each of the new bulbs, this is a problem because they are 250 watters. The old bulbs come up just fine and so did the bulbs before them. Admittedly they were elcheepo bulbs off of eBay discount dealers. You know the type, 3 pack for $60. Well they work just not as long as quality bulbs? My quality bulbs wont get up to par so the tank is suffering even more. Im stuck in a dilemma now. Buy new bulbs, cheepies cause I know they work or buy new ballasts to try and get these quality bulbs to work like they should? I don’t have the funds ether way and so that leaves me in this disappointed position Im in now.

My RO-DI filters broke. This was my own fault, I left the thing outside in the freezing weather we had back in November. Im back to using tap filtered tap water for top off water. It will just have to do for now. I had one of my UV bulbs burnout and so I got a new set of those last weekend. I wish there was a light for something on the UV filters to let you know if a bulb burns out.

I cant seem to even give away this other system that I have cluttering up my shed and take these little fish off my hands. I know it was hard to sell an entire system but didn’t know it was that hard to even give it way to someone. It really reminds me how far out in the boonies I live when its to far for someone to drive for a freebie.

I am going to try and make the new years tank experience even better and happier one day at a time starting tomorrow.

Well I just had to cry in someones skimmer so it mite as well be yours.

Everyone have a happy new year!
From Erik, Stacey and the kids.

 

[mojoreef]

Happu New year Eric, wish your family the best

Mojo

 

[returnofsid]

It can be discouraging, when things don't go the way we planned. Don't give up, keep at it, and you'll get it figured out.

Let's take a couple of your problems, one at a time.

Lack of Coralline Algae.

What are your water parameters for:
Calcium
Alkalinity
Magnesium

Are you keeping them high enough?
Are you keeping them balanced?
Are you keeping them consistent?

Corals seeming to go down hill:

Are you using Carbon? If so, are you changing it out regularly?

With the corals you listed, I'd suspect your tank is experiencing quite a bit of Aleopathy. The corals you listed, GSP and Leathers, are some of the worst, for putting off chemicals, to combat other corals. Both of these corals have the ability to kill most other corals, chemically.

Inability to keep SPS alive:

This could be because of the chemical warfare going on, with your other corals.

Are you running a skimmer? If so, is it an adequate skimmer for your sized tank?

Lighting:

This is a tough one. What fixture do you have? Are you sure you have quality ballasts? Some of the less expensive fixtures actually use under powered ballasts, that won't power the bulbs, to their full potential.

Are your bulbs single ended or double ended? If double ended, they do have an "up" and "down." If they're in upside down, they won't work right. I found this out, the hard way, with a 150W DE quality bulb, once before.

Make a New Years resolution, to get to the bottom of your tank difficulties. Don't expect it to happen over night, but you'll get there!! Happy New Years!!

 

[NC2WA]

Erik,

Sorry to hear that.

I feel your pain, my tank is fishless and boring to look at. Yes, I have corals and cleaner shrimp, but that is about it. I will have to wait until the 3rd wk of February before any fish can be added. This should kill MI or MV or whatever parasite was in my tank.

My MH bulbs need to be changed again, as I'm noticing a good bit of red algae on the side of the tank which is only appears when the bulbs need changing. Nice cue to have if you ask me. I normally use 10K 250 XM bulbs but I might want to go 12 or 15K this time. I really like lobos and wellsi but 10K is too bright for them.

Anyway, Happy New Year to all and a good 2011.

Kirk

 

[thatguy559]

xm 15k is an awesome balance its really crisp.

hey erik sorry about your tank. if you need anything or help just let me know im always there to help another reefer out!!!!

 

[tat2z_21]

Dude we live right down the street from each other. If you need help let me know. I have an extra sump that is sitting in my back yard right now and afew extra tanks that can be used for refugiums. Listen instead of getting super frustrated just give one of us a call. That is what we are here for. That is the exact reason we started North Sound Reefers, to help each other out, and to pass on different ways of doing things. I would love to come over and help you out with your system. With your, mine and Justins head together I am sure that we can figure something out for you.

 

[NC2WA]

thatguy,

How blue is the 15K ?

I would love to see a pic of a tank that has 15K bulbs

thanks
Kirk

 

[thatguy559]

check out my build thread before the plasmas

post 106
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/f70/thatguys-120g-build-53197/index3.html

 

[fulkerl]

I have been waiting for the ball to drop, and have been starring at my tank. Its been a little over a year and I too would have thought it would have evolved a little faster. But then I have not killed anything for almost a year and my tank seems stable. As for coralline algae Its growing like crazy now, almost like a curse, always cleaning the glass now. But don't let all that hard work and maybe a little despair go to waste, take a few minutes "and maybe an adult beverage" sit back and stare at your tank for a few minutes and reflect on how far you have come. Wishing All a Happy New Year.

 

[fulkerl]

Quote "My RO-DI filters broke. This was my own fault, I left the thing outside in the freezing weather we had back in November"
What broke on your RO-DI filters I have a pre-filter houseing if that helps?

 

[thatguy559]

me too i have a whole rodi unit in my garage im not using you can have for parts.

 

[GoCougsKev]

Good bye 2010!

 

[ac7av]

Well to start off my new year my wife and I took the kids to Grandpas house Saturday in Olympia and on the way home the transmission craps out in my van. We are still in Tacoma at this point and 134 miles from home. So much for any extra funds I though I was going to have to expand the sump area in my tank to help in filtration. We finaly got home late, frustrated, and tired.

Happy New Year!

 

[thatguy559]

hey let me know if you need anything i can loan you a sump if need be

 

[psb]

Do we have a definitive list, article on Aleopathy? I have always wondered about it. Is Carbon the best way to combat it? Or can moving the culprit to be down flow or upflow make a difference, etc?

 

[TheKraken]

I cant seem to even give away this other system that I have cluttering up my shed and take these little fish off my hands. I know it was hard to sell an entire system but didn’t know it was that hard to even give it way to someone. It really reminds me how far out in the boonies I live when its to far for someone to drive for a freebie.

I am glad to hear that you are home safe. This has been an interesting winter so far with my wife and friends unemployed and my tank getting near the one year mark myself. Eventually things have to get better.

I am really surprised that you still have the setup in your shed. I am in the process of downsizing (fewer tanks, slightly more volume) otherwise I would have driven up a month ago. I will be in the area for the PSAS so please let me know what you need or would like to trade. I have a UV unit sitting in the garage. If you have orphan fish/rock I have some tank space now and will be moving into a 6' tank soon.

Happy New Years!

 

[ac7av]

Thanks everyone I appreciate it a lot. Nice to know there are people around willing to put some time and effort into another’s system.

Id like to give it a few weeks before making any changes to things at the moment. I just need to take a breather on it. I don’t think I can handle any technical problems that may arise from any changes at the moment. I mite blow a head gasket or something.

I don’t need a sump, I have some tanks I had been preparing to get under the stand but need to remove what I have in it now before reinforcing the floor of the stand to support the weight. When I get that done hopefully next weekend, Id like to call upon some north sound reefers to recommend some design to the sump for a more efficient filtering system. What I have to two 20 gallon tall tanks drilled and going to be mounted together end to end. This will create a baffle in-between them. What should I do with the rest of the space? Keep in mind I have a heavy load in this tank and need to be able to remove waist from the water easily. I can have the glass company cut what ever I need and I have as many as eight 23watt 6,500k par 38 flood lights to power the refrugium. I don’t know if I need all of them but that’s what I have.

There will be a third tank that I may have to custom make that will house only the skimmer and sump off the tail end of the two 20s. But I need to see exactly what space I have in the stand once the 20s are in place. The problem is how much room will there be to get it threw the door once the 20s are in the stand.

As far as the water test go I went over that on another thread “death to all hard corals in my tank?” I think was the name of it. Anyway the water test all seem stable and don’t change much each time I test. Nothing every seems out of whack from what I would expect them to be with the salt I’m using. Maybe someone could come over with there test kits and do a full panel on my tank. Ether my kits don’t work or I don’t know how to use them, or its the chemical warfare you are talking about. Even after changing all my water parameters to higher levels I have no luck with stony corals. They dye quick, like in days or maybe hours and I just don’t see the death until a few days later. Something doesn’t make any sense with that.

When I first set this tank up years ago and didn’t know a thing about it every thing did so much better except for the fish bomb that wiped out my entire tank in less then a week. This was from not quarantining new fish I got from Hawaii. They brought in a nasty pest and killed every thing in a week or so that swam in the tank except an eel. On the bright side I had no real issues with corals of any type. Softies, lps and coralline algae covered the tank like is should. I didn’t test for anything and I had some really crazy ideas about filtering and no skimmer. Things looked great on the coral end of things. Piece of cake. After loosing all my fish I took the tank down to make some changes to it and have it drilled to eliminate the over flow box and water proof the wood stank. I have the same rock the same salt the same water the same lights, better pumps, an awesome skimmer, way more water moving in the tank then I ever thought of having before and now I cant hardly seem to keep my wamin watermelons alive. Now I test for every thing, regular water changes, feed better foods, try to have better lights and filtration and I feel like im going backwards. The more I try to fix what every is going on the worse it seems to be getting. Id like to put a sheet over the tank and just leave the lights off and give it a months and see how it looks in the end. It couldn’t hurt at this point. Just toss some food in every day for the fish.

So in a couple of weeks I will try and set up something with a few of you to come over and give me an analysis on what you thing can be done with what I have to get things in line with where they should be.

 

[tat2z_21]

I think that the addition of the three seperate tanks is going to cause more room for failure. One solid sump with enough room for skimmer and accessories will be more then enough. If you are going to go the refugium route then one 20 tall would be more then enough, routing a 1/3 of the water actually leaving your tank into the refugium. A all in one sump would be better choice. Less things that can drip, break, and cause issues. I would love to come over one day and help you redo the setup. Just let me know. I am sure that we can come up wiith something.

 

[thatguy559]

^^^agreed

 

[TheKraken]

The only 2 sump setup that made sense to me was was designed for the AGA pine stands. The doors are too small to fit anything reasonable so the sump is a pair or 20 gal tanks connected with two bulkheads to normalize flow between the returns. It works if that is the only way you can get the tanks into the stand.

If you can fit a bigger tank or have the sump remote you can get all the benefits of a stable water level for the skimmer with a baffle, a bubble trap, and pump compartment (ATO).

I am trying to add water to my system for stability and water changes. I am debating where and how to mix up salt water and incorporate into the current system without effecting the water level in the sump (lest the ATO go nuts).