120G Rimless shallow peninsula tank

[Janci]

Yesterday was maintenance day.
I had not touched the tank for over 2 weeks except for some glass cleaning and nothing else actually.

The calcium reactor was still acting strange as the CO2 chamber was still creating a lot of foam.
Figured that after 1 year service some maintenance might be due so cleaned the complete first stage, including pump, CO2 chamber and new media.
Things look better now.

From this

To this

I also did a 15% water change and cleaned the skimmer.
The skimmer was off. I had not noticed that after the black out of last week, the controller did not return to the last setting as the return pump had done.
So about 6 days the tank was running without skimmer.

Parameters tested:

KH 9.3dkh A little to high but probably due to the malfunctioning CO2 chamber
Ca 420ppm
Mg 1260ppm extra Mg added
NO3 5ppm
PO4 0.01ppm

I hope KH falls back to 7.6dkh and we are back on track.

Monthly FTS coming soon.

 

[pshootr]

I found your thread. Kind of felt like walking into a sliding glass door!

Getting kind of late for me though. Will probably have to check it out tomorrow. I did see the anthias though and they are very nice..

 

[Janci]

I found your thread. Kind of felt like walking into a sliding glass door!

Getting kind of late for me though. Will probably have to check it out tomorrow. I did see the anthias though and they are very nice..

Welcome and thank you.
Have a good rest and see you soon.

 

[Janci]

I forgot to mention that with the skimmer offline for a couple of days, PH had dropped till 7.7.
The skimmer is back online now and the values are much better.

Never mind the salinity. it shows close to 1.024 which is fine.
When testing with a digital Milwaukee, it is at 1.026.
I might put an offset in it as the probe was always some points off.

In order to boost PH, I added an airline to the skimmer which is now taking air from outside the cabinet.
We will see over the next days how PH is performing.

The next step is adding a CO2 scrubber.
I have the media, but still thinking on how to make the reactor.

Any suggestions?

 

[Janci]

It seems like the CO2 scrubber will not be necessary yet.
Since cleaning the skimmer and running the air suction from outside the cabinet, pH has been between 8.05 and 8.20 (night/day time).

if it raises a little more over the next days with a minimum of 8.10, pH will be back at the level it was when installing the new skimmer about a year ago.

 

[WallyB]

It seems like the CO2 scrubber will not be necessary yet.
Since cleaning the skimmer and running the air suction from outside the cabinet, pH has been between 8.05 and 8.20 (night/day time).

if it raises a little more over the next days with a minimum of 8.10, pH will be back at the level it was when installing the new skimmer about a year ago.

That's Great News Janci.

It's proven that Higher PH (but stable) is the key to successful SPS growth.

The best I can do is 7.95-8.1 and that's with Outside Fresh Air Line. BUT better then what I used to have which was 7.9 Peak.

I played with CO2 Scrubber, but the Soda Lime is pricey and expires fast. Maybe having a Electronic Shut off Valve to run it at Low PH times would extend the media.
I saw on BRStv a suggestion to use two Soda Lime Cansiters and swap them to extend use as well.

I'm actually thinking of doing KALK (dripping using doser) not (Kalk via AutoTop up). Top up is too tricky with A/B dosing (even if A/B is needed).

I'm sure if you get to MIN 8.1 you will be really happy.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

Dang, sucks to lose those nice colonies but like you said, this hobby is ups and downs, strikes and gutters.

The addition of the T5s came out great! If you want to ad more fixtures can’t you just hang them in wires from the roof? Won’t be pretty but since your using a canopy I guess that won’t matter to much.

I second using kalk to raise ph. Also helps with improving the skimming. As an added bonus kalk is dirt cheap and you can cut back on the dosing

 

[Janci]

Dang, sucks to lose those nice colonies but like you said, this hobby is ups and downs, strikes and gutters.

The addition of the T5s came out great! If you want to ad more fixtures can’t you just hang them in wires from the roof? Won’t be pretty but since your using a canopy I guess that won’t matter to much.

I second using kalk to raise ph. Also helps with improving the skimming. As an added bonus kalk is dirt cheap and you can cut back on the dosing

I am looking into the option to add the second pair of T5s. I will definitely have to raise them higher than the first pair or they will block the light from the radions.
A project to design something in the coming weeks.

 

[Janci]

That's Great News Janci.

It's proven that Higher PH (but stable) is the key to successful SPS growth.

The best I can do is 7.95-8.1 and that's with Outside Fresh Air Line. BUT better then what I used to have which was 7.9 Peak.

I played with CO2 Scrubber, but the Soda Lime is pricey and expires fast. Maybe having a Electronic Shut off Valve to run it at Low PH times would extend the media.
I saw on BRStv a suggestion to use two Soda Lime Cansiters and swap them to extend use as well.

I'm actually thinking of doing KALK (dripping using doser) not (Kalk via AutoTop up). Top up is too tricky with A/B dosing (even if A/B is needed).

I'm sure if you get to MIN 8.1 you will be really happy.

If I can have a stable pH with a minimum of 8.10 I will be happy.
I still think to add the CO2 scrubber to have it even higher, but I am not sure if there is a limit to run pH in a tank.

Some more reading is recommended for sure.

 

[Janci]

That's Great News Janci.

It's proven that Higher PH (but stable) is the key to successful SPS growth.

The best I can do is 7.95-8.1 and that's with Outside Fresh Air Line. BUT better then what I used to have which was 7.9 Peak.

I played with CO2 Scrubber, but the Soda Lime is pricey and expires fast. Maybe having a Electronic Shut off Valve to run it at Low PH times would extend the media.
I saw on BRStv a suggestion to use two Soda Lime Cansiters and swap them to extend use as well.

I'm actually thinking of doing KALK (dripping using doser) not (Kalk via AutoTop up). Top up is too tricky with A/B dosing (even if A/B is needed).

I'm sure if you get to MIN 8.1 you will be really happy.

If I can have a stable pH with a minimum of 8.10 I will be happy.
I still think to add the CO2 scrubber to have it even higher, but I am not sure if there is a limit to run pH in a tank.

Some more reading is recommended for sure.

 

[SPR1968]

Well to me your pH looks fine anyway, and well within range.

I went through a stage we’re I was going to mess around with it, but after reading lots, and also taking into account the tiny % difference, and more importantly everything was alive I decided to leave it well alone. Mine is 7.7-8 ish throughout the day. Also note you may have a margin +- for testing error

You may have seen these articles already, but they are very detailed

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/

 

[Janci]

One MP40 died after 1.5 year of service. I expected more of these pumps.

My next pumps will be Rossmont. Controllable AC pumps.

 

[bubbaque]

I haven't heard of the Rossmont brand. Are they good pumps?

 

[Janci]

I haven't heard of the Rossmont brand. Are they good pumps?

They are not that common yet I believe. @revhtree has them in his gorgeous tank.
Rossmont is an Italian brand, such as Sicce. Their higher flow options come in a pack of 4 pumps for a good price.
The controller needs be bought separately, but you can run the pumps without controller as well. My MP40's are running at 100% almost all of the time (constant or pulsing).
In Europe they are widely used.
They are worth investigating.

 

[WallyB]

One MP40 died after 1.5 year of service. I expected more of these pumps.

My next pumps will be Rossmont. Controllable AC pumps.

Contact the Vendor, and make lots of polite noise. 1.5 year is close to warranty period.
Tell them you will switch brand for life, and tell everyone about your negative thoughts about he MP40.
Pumps are becoming a competitive market. They may take care of you.
The minimal a good company will do, is give you a replacement at their Cost.
Hydor replaced 3 of my Pumps for free (I just had to return defective pumps to them at my cost (so they could inspect), they shipped for free new unit back)
They died after 2,3 years. Tell Vortek that.

 

[reefwiser]

Rossmont are ok pumps I won one at our frag swap good for the salt water mixing system. If you want durable pump just buy Tunze I have Tunze equipment that still works after 30 years in service.

 

[Janci]

Contact the Vendor, and make lots of polite noise. 1.5 year is close to warranty period.
Tell them you will switch brand for life, and tell everyone about your negative thoughts about he MP40.
Pumps are becoming a competitive market. They may take care of you.
The minimal a good company will do, is give you a replacement at their Cost.
Hydor replaced 3 of my Pumps for free (I just had to return defective pumps to them at my cost (so they could inspect), they shipped for free new unit back)
They died after 2,3 years. Tell Vortek that.

I took out the pump and I guess one of the bearings gave up.
I will open it as I know such a bearings can be replaced easily.

 

[Rakie]

I would recommend tunze! They're amazing. I have one that's a year ild. And one that's about 12+ years old. Nobody can tell the difference and they're side by side

 

[Janci]

Rossmont are ok pumps I won one at our frag swap good for the salt water mixing system. If you want durable pump just buy Tunze I have Tunze equipment that still works after 30 years in service.

Tunze is a good option as well.
I have always wanted to try the Turbelle Stream 3 or the 6255 Wide flow pumps, but they come at a higher price.

 

[Rakie]

The Stream 3 is cheaper than an MP60 I believe, and it moves a TON of water. A club member is using one for a 300 gallon tank, 8x3x27" and at 50% it's got good flow for the entire tank.