1000 gallon tank for a beginner!

[EliMelly]

Have you tried lights out for a bit?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Have you tried lights out for a bit?

No, not yet.

 

[Rabidsquirrel]

I climbed in and attempted to get the purple tang to no avail. Now that they're both back in the tank the purple is obsessed with only killing the yellow and doesn't do anything else. The yellow is currently hiding behind a gyre and every time the purple comes close to attack I scare him away but he comes right back.

I had a purple tang become obsessed with a Scopas, and then a Yellow decided to jump in on that behavior too. Only way it was resolved was when I removed the Scopas. Mirrors had a very limited effect on my situation.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Just returning home after a weeklong vacation. The day before leaving I noticed the yellow tang was back out swimming like normal. The purple seemed to be annoyed at him but not trying to murder him anymore. I have kept a check on the tank through my webcam throughout the week and everyone appeared to be getting along together. My tank-sitter reported the purple tang has actually been acting shy and staying more hidden near the end of the week. I have noticed this too today though he did come out and visually looks normal. I'll have to continue to observe. The mirrors were on the tank all week and I have removed them in case it was causing stress as well. I have a tomini and 2 more yellow tangs coming later this week to eventually place into the tank. Glad to report that tensions have appeared to cool for now.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Tank update:

After returning from vacation the purple tang was no longer trying to murder my yellow tang. This was reassuring to see. Apparently it was because during my week's absence for vacation the powder blue decided he was going to be the boss and put the purple in his place. I noticed his the powder blue being aggressive with the other tangs throughout the next week but not actually attacking. It seemed things were becoming peaceful with the PBT now acting as the tank's policeman and keeping the peace.

I then received a new order of fish including a tomini tang, 2 additional yellow tangs, and some extra female anthias and royal grammas to round out my harems of each. After acclimating them for a week I put them into the main tank. This time I taped my collection of mirrors back up against the glass, put in my tang decoys, and decided to keep the lights off as well to reduce aggression. I put them in in the evening, let them explore for a few minutes, and then went lights out.

The following day after work I returned home and turned the lights on to get a sense of how the tank was doing. Unfortunately, when I turned the lights on I found my powder brown tang in the sand, breathing rapidly, and with snails on him already scavenging him. I scooped him out and took him to my acclimation tanks. When I examined him he had multiple cuts along his body. I suspect the powder blue. He was already moribund at the time of me finding him and he passed within 24 hours. I was sad to see it as he was probably the least aggressive acting of all the tangs I had. That may have been his downfall as well though, getting pushed around.

Well, after turning the lights on it was tense in the tank. All the tangs were on edge and going after each other but not attacking. My leopard wrasse just noped out and hid in the sand for 48 hours. The lights went back out for another day and a half and then I turned them back on and back to a regular schedule. Everyone was much less stressed when I turned the lights back on. The new tangs seem to have found their place in the pecking order. The powder blue continues to boss the tank but I have not seen him attack anyone else. The extra yellow tangs provide some great color and spread any aggression out though the purple seems to like hanging with the yellows now so I don't know. Everything seems to be back to normal as far as I can tell.

The tank continues to be plagued by diatoms all over the rockscape, sidewalls, and sand. My previous ICP showed that the silicates in the water were trending downwards so I am attempting to wait it out but they show no signs of slowing down. My turbo snails eat it up but I'd need like 100 in there to keep everything mowed down. I will probably send another ICP in July to see where I stand. I have noticed what I suspect is the start of green-colored coraline algae that has tinted the rocks in certain areas. Those areas remain untouched by the diatoms now. I remain hopeful.

In the meantime I have been working on designing and printing out a filter roller for the tank as time allows for it. Stay tuned for updates on it. It's always something I hoped I could add on to the tank to help with maintenance. I currently change out filter socks every 2-3 days when the water starts to overflow that section of the sump. Even quicker on days where I brush off diatoms.

I have one final vacation planned for the end of July and hope to start looking at adding corals after I return from that trip.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Did your leopard wrasse make it? I made the mistake of adding one to my 50g when I already had a certified jerk of a sixline. Every time he came out for the first two weeks he got chased right back under and I haven’t seen him in ages! Lesson learned, sadly.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

He seems to be thriving actually. I am growing out copepods and dose them weekly. He is constantly hunting right up until bed time. He's probably my favorite fish to watch. Eventually I want to add a pair of mandarin gobies in as well.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Update time:

The fish are continuing to thrive. I have been battling diatoms for some time now due to elevated silicates in the water that I have confirmed by prior ICP. I sent off a recent ICP that has for the first time shown silicates were now within the normal range! That felt so good to finally see. Unfortunately, my nitrates and phosphates remain bottomed out despite feeding heavily and now that my diatoms are dwindling I am seeing the dreaded dinos. Appears to be small cell amphidinium.

Bonus clip of a copepod with my uglies.


I am continuing to do copepods and phyto once a week into the tank. I think has helped control my uglies to some extent. I am on Mack's facebook page as well. I may have to start dosing silicates back into the tank to outcompete the dinos though I hate the thought of doing that now that I have finally gotten those levels under control. I have also ordered nitrate and phosphate supplies to begin dosing as well to get the nutrients back in check. I am considering starting the nutrient dosing first before starting the silicate dosing to see how that goes.

I am a little frustrated as I was planning on ordering corals this week to finally turn this from FOWLR to reef tank but feel I should now hold off until the dinos and diatoms are better under control.

Some good news to report: I have had my DIY roller filter running on my tank for the past 2 and a half weeks and am very pleased with it. Here is a snapshot of it:

I am going to work on a full post documenting its build further.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

amazing!

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Just posted a long and detailed thread in the DIY forums about the roller filter. Lots of pictures, a couple of videos, and many words!

Check it out here: https://www.reef2rDIY Hydros 3D printed roller filter and lessons learnedeef.com/threads/diy-hydros-3d-printed-roller-filter-and-lessons-learned.1122843/

 

[lubeck]

let’s see that tank

 

[helmsreef]

That awesome filter roller is probably a big reason why you have not P04 and No3, can you bypass your filter to allow some nutrient build up?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

That awesome filter roller is probably a big reason why you have not P04 and No3, can you bypass your filter to allow some nutrient build up?

Ha that's a good point but the nutrients had bottomed out back during my gha outbreak. I'm doing both nitrate and phos and testing daily but certainly will keep a watch on it.

 

[backbayreef]

Awesome updates and you're very gifted with your DIY skills. I've read through your DIY filter roller project, it's a work of art so congrats!

What about nutrient control in the future?
Nitrates: surely with this size of a tank, your filter roller may not be able to keep up later. I'm currently using a sulfur-denitrator (old CaRx) and my nitrate is less than 15ppm with 30 medium/large fish in a 450gal system.
Phosphates: I've been dosing LC and it's stabilized at 0.10ppm.

Thoughts?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Awesome updates and you're very gifted with your DIY skills. I've read through your DIY filter roller project, it's a work of art so congrats!

What about nutrient control in the future?
Nitrates: surely with this size of a tank, your filter roller may not be able to keep up later. I'm currently using a sulfur-denitrator (old CaRx) and my nitrate is less than 15ppm with 30 medium/large fish in a 450gal system.
Phosphates: I've been dosing LC and it's stabilized at 0.10ppm.

Thoughts?

Thank you for the kind words. This is where my inexperience shines through as I have no prior experience to build off of. I have some concerns with a sulfur denitrator as my sulfur always measures a little elevated on my ICP's already.

I have a line plumbed in for a manifold in anticipation of these kinds of things being necessary but am waiting for an issue to declare itself before tackling it. The biggest issue I currently have is lack of space. I have nowhere else to put things. I really need to add in an AC to the room to cool it down. The lights are running at 50% and the room runs warm already. I will need to max it out for corals.

I am currently dosing nitrate and phos back into the tank. I also dosed my first silicates back in to try and kill these dinos.

 

[backbayreef]

Thank you for the kind words. This is where my inexperience shines through as I have no prior experience to build off of. I have some concerns with a sulfur denitrator as my sulfur always measures a little elevated on my ICP's already.

I have a line plumbed in for a manifold in anticipation of these kinds of things being necessary but am waiting for an issue to declare itself before tackling it. The biggest issue I currently have is lack of space. I have nowhere else to put things. I really need to add in an AC to the room to cool it down. The lights are running at 50% and the room runs warm already. I will need to max it out for corals.

I am currently dosing nitrate and phos back into the tank. I also dosed my first silicates back in to try and kill these dinos.

You’re doing great for a first-time reefer! :)

Certainly - this is for future expansion. A denitrifying reactor (I’m using a used calcium reactor) doesn’t have to be that big actually, even for a 1000gal system. You can submerge the reactor inside the sump if you have room.

For alk & ca, your corals and coralline algae will consume a lot and 2-part dosing or AFR might be cost prohibitive long term. Also, it’s less maintenance once dialed in - no mixing. I would set some space aside for a CaRx in the future.

This is my sump for the 450gal.

 

[Sltloser]

Went out of town for the weekend and came back to diatoms in full bloom. Picture doesn't really do it justice. They're all over the rocks and the rockscape on the backs and sides, the pumps, sand, and glass.

In addition to the diatoms there's a few tufts of green hair algae. I have, for now, turned the lighting back off. I have placed a CUC order and plan to wait until they are here before I turn the lights back on.

In the meantime, I finished printing and installing some fans to cool the atlas heatsinks. Just in time for me to turn the lights off for now!

There are 4 noctua 140mm fans aimed at passing air across the heatsinks and towards my ceiling exhaust fan. Will have to check the temp when I have the lights back on to see if it affects the temp at all.

Might have missed this, but how did the fans work out for cooling of the fixtures?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Definitely helps though the room is warm!

 

[lubeck]

How’s the tank? Can we see a fts

 

[SlowAndStupid]

How’s the tank? Can we see a fts

What's a fts?

I'm just starting week 3 of treating for small cell amphidinium dinos so the tank looks very ugly right now. I have been dosing silicates at 2ppm daily and definitely have lots of diatoms on the front glass. The rocks (both the rockscape and the rocks around the back and side panels) are covered in mats of long, bubbly mucus strings about 1.5 to 2 inches long. Same for the sand, looks like brown grass waving in the flow.

Testing daily for nitrate and phos and have to dose phos daily though nitrates remain steady and haven't had to dose in about a week now. I am dosing macrobacter7 daily as well.

I have tried manual removal of the long mucus strings on the top third of my tank by vacuuming it out into a filter but it returns within a couple of days. Microscopic imaging of the long mucus strings show mostly diatoms with just a few dinos. Hoping to starve these guys out but it sure is ugly.

Fish for the most part seem to be doing fine other than 1 royal gramma that I was able to scoop out and put in my observation tank. Not sure what is worng with him but I am nursing him back. He eats mysis from a pipette for me.