Sunday, December 29, 2019
CaRx Effluent Increase
Yesterday morning I noticed my Alkalinity had dropped to 7.4 down from 7.8 last week. I had noticed this drop over the past several days but was waiting to see if it would maintain at a slightly lower level. Since it is continuing to drop I increased the effluent drip rate out of my reactor while maintaining a PH of 6.4-6.6 inside the reactor. This is maintained with my American Marine PH controller. Growth rates and color are looking better by the day at these lower values, and I am continuously feeding more to keep nutrient levels a bit higher.
Saturday, December 28, 2019
December 2019 - State of The Tank Address
Overview:
As of August 2019 my reef reached its 2 year milestone and was met with several challenges. A sudden spike in Phosphate caused a large seemingly uncontrollable algae outbreak that I never thought would end. This encouraged me to restart the use of biopellets and ultimately discontinued using chaeto in the refugium. Although chaeto is great for the reproduction of pods it was too inconsistent with nutrient export in my set up. It would thrive for a period and then be unhappy all of a sudden. My choice to attack the algae outbreak with UWC vibrant also made this necessary since it would be detrimental for the plant anyway.
Coinciding with the algae outbreak I also noticed severe burnt tips on many of my SPS corals. I had been testing my alkalinity in the 9-9.5 range for some period of time which I determined to be too high for my ULNS tank. Reducing this down to ~7.5 along with the addition of the CO2 scrubber has shown very promising results in both appearance and growth rate of almost every coral.
With the tank chemistry under control, and a healthier overall appearance in the tank I decided to also remove the only remaining true mechanical filtration (pre-filter sponge) from the sump. My intent here is too allow the smaller particulates to either recirculate back to the tank to feed the corals, or be completely removed via the protein skimmer.
It is incredible how much better the skimmer is performing with the Mazzei Venturi. There is way for airflow and bubble creation producing a much thicker and more disgusting skimmate!! The increase in the body height of the skimmer was likely an accidental success attributing to this benefit. I believe there was too much flow prior to this change creating an excessively turbulent environment at the peak of the skimmer reaction area. A thank you to the Bulk Reef Supply video reviewing skimmer air flow along side water flow to allow the most productive skimming possible.
Equipment Changes/Modifications:
- 4.5" Extension to Protein Skimmer body and Mazzei Venturi addition (May)
- 12.5" Extension to Calcium Reactor body (December)
- Added Duo Jumbo BRS CO2 Scrubber recirculating via skimmer venturi (November)
- Removed Second Vortech MP60 due to excessive flow, running single unit at 50% on Nutrient Export mode (November)
Water Treatment:
- Weekly 10% water change via Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
- BRS Bio Pellet Reactor
- LifeReef Calcium Reactor
- LifeReef Protein Skimmer w/CO2 scrubber
- Daily addition TLF AcroPower
- Bi-weekly addition of UWC vibrant
- Bag of BRS Carbon in sump
Water Flow:
- Ecotech Marine Vortech MP60 (50% Nutrient Export)
- Ecotech Marine L2 Return pump (40% constant - also feeds refugium which is empty)
Lighting:
- 3 X Ecotech Marine Radion Gen 4 Pro's
- 10:30 AM to 9:30 PM at 57% max intensity on Radiant Color Pre-Program
Water Quality (Last tested daily)
- Alkalinity: 7.6 DKH
- PH: 7.99 to 8.12
Others (Last tested 8/27/19)
- NH3: .02
- NO2: .007
- NO3: 1.5
- PO4: 0
-SiO2: .02
- K: 390
- Sr : 8.75
- Mg: 1260
- I: .06
- Cu: .02
- Ca: 432
As of August 2019 my reef reached its 2 year milestone and was met with several challenges. A sudden spike in Phosphate caused a large seemingly uncontrollable algae outbreak that I never thought would end. This encouraged me to restart the use of biopellets and ultimately discontinued using chaeto in the refugium. Although chaeto is great for the reproduction of pods it was too inconsistent with nutrient export in my set up. It would thrive for a period and then be unhappy all of a sudden. My choice to attack the algae outbreak with UWC vibrant also made this necessary since it would be detrimental for the plant anyway.
Coinciding with the algae outbreak I also noticed severe burnt tips on many of my SPS corals. I had been testing my alkalinity in the 9-9.5 range for some period of time which I determined to be too high for my ULNS tank. Reducing this down to ~7.5 along with the addition of the CO2 scrubber has shown very promising results in both appearance and growth rate of almost every coral.
With the tank chemistry under control, and a healthier overall appearance in the tank I decided to also remove the only remaining true mechanical filtration (pre-filter sponge) from the sump. My intent here is too allow the smaller particulates to either recirculate back to the tank to feed the corals, or be completely removed via the protein skimmer.
It is incredible how much better the skimmer is performing with the Mazzei Venturi. There is way for airflow and bubble creation producing a much thicker and more disgusting skimmate!! The increase in the body height of the skimmer was likely an accidental success attributing to this benefit. I believe there was too much flow prior to this change creating an excessively turbulent environment at the peak of the skimmer reaction area. A thank you to the Bulk Reef Supply video reviewing skimmer air flow along side water flow to allow the most productive skimming possible.
Equipment Changes/Modifications:
- 4.5" Extension to Protein Skimmer body and Mazzei Venturi addition (May)
- 12.5" Extension to Calcium Reactor body (December)
- Added Duo Jumbo BRS CO2 Scrubber recirculating via skimmer venturi (November)
- Removed Second Vortech MP60 due to excessive flow, running single unit at 50% on Nutrient Export mode (November)
Water Treatment:
- Weekly 10% water change via Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
- BRS Bio Pellet Reactor
- LifeReef Calcium Reactor
- LifeReef Protein Skimmer w/CO2 scrubber
- Daily addition TLF AcroPower
- Bi-weekly addition of UWC vibrant
- Bag of BRS Carbon in sump
Water Flow:
- Ecotech Marine Vortech MP60 (50% Nutrient Export)
- Ecotech Marine L2 Return pump (40% constant - also feeds refugium which is empty)
Lighting:
- 3 X Ecotech Marine Radion Gen 4 Pro's
- 10:30 AM to 9:30 PM at 57% max intensity on Radiant Color Pre-Program
Water Quality (Last tested daily)
- Alkalinity: 7.6 DKH
- PH: 7.99 to 8.12
Others (Last tested 8/27/19)
- NH3: .02
- NO2: .007
- NO3: 1.5
- PO4: 0
-SiO2: .02
- K: 390
- Sr : 8.75
- Mg: 1260
- I: .06
- Cu: .02
- Ca: 432
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
LifeReef Calcium Reactor Extension
I am starting to burn through media much faster, so in order to extend periods between maintenance I increased the reaction chamber by 12".
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Monday, December 9, 2019
UWC Vibrant Review: It Works!!
It has been 8 weeks and 8 doses into my 160G reef, and there is zero algae nor the cyanobacteria that appeared between weeks 3 and 6. I am a believer in this product and will continue to dose it on the bi-weekly scheduled. The cyano period was my skeptical point, but I imagine much of the ding algae was releasing nutrients into the tank and temporarily promoting the bacteria.
Before and after below.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
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