90 Gallon Mixed/LPS Tank (15 year Journey to ★Success★) [Every Accident/Disaster/Problem]

[WallyB]

It was human (me) error on apex programming when redoing some dosing line pumbing.

I switched things around. Triple tested everything. Have a mechanical safety switch to ensure pump isn't on during maintenance.

Must have switched from doser-pump(off) to doser-pump(on) instead of (auto).

It still baffles me how I did that by mistake. Maybe my usual distracting kids bothered me at just the wrong time and I didn't notice till too late.

 

[neoGeorge]

It was human (me) error on apex programming when redoing some dosing line pumbing.

I switched things around. Triple tested everything. Have a mechanical safety switch to ensure pump isn't on during maintenance.

Must have switched from doser-pump(off) to doser-pump(on) instead of (auto).

It still baffles me how I did that by mistake. Maybe my usual distracting kids bothered me at just the wrong time and I didn't notice till too late.

Arrrgh, that is a tough lesson!

 

[Hermie]

Hey Wally, I saw in another thread where you postd a pic of your tank with a ton of hair algae (after battling a cyano outbreak). What did you do to get rid of the algae? I am going through somethign similar with my tank...

 

[WallyB]

Hey Wally, I saw in another thread where you postd a pic of your tank with a ton of hair algae (after battling a cyano outbreak). What did you do to get rid of the algae? I am going through somethign similar with my tank...

Well that's a long story, and I have a thread which details the full journey.

Let me summarize.

I lost then won the battle with Hair Alage.

First I tried every possible CUC critter (from every species of snail, to Cowrie, to Sea Hare). Some made a dent, but the outbreak was too much.
But one thing I can tell you a Sea Hare will polish a TON of GHA. Not just patch cleaning. Will clean a rocks to bare rock. (Also they die quickly...but I only tried one).

I tried to help the critters by pruning, and even made a device (whipper snipper and Shiphon combined) to blast/suck the Hair Algae off the rocks. That helped but I learned that pulvarizing Hair Algae releases the Phosphate into your tank to astronomical levels. (Problem was I was siphoning thru a sock back into my Tank. Since I needed lots of siphon time). Also since the rocks still had short Algae hairs on them, it just grew back.

So I then just removed all the rocks and corals. Separated the mounted corals, and scrubbed the Hair algae off the rocks, rinsed in tank water (dirty buckets), and rinsed again in Tank Water (clean bucket) and reassembled rocks with corals on them.

That gave the tank a fresh start. (And if possible I highly recommend just tearing down your tank if your GHA outbreak is out of control).

At the time also connected the fact that too much RED led light was adding fuel to the fire on Hair Algae Growth.

NOTE: I did not tackle my problem trying to Reduce Nitrates (by any means) or Phosphates (with GFO).

So on the Flip Side, if Red LED light fuels Algae, then why not use that concept to run a Algae Scrubber (which uses red/blue) leds, to grow Algae in my Sump and NOT IN Tank.

I first bought a Santa Monica Algae Scrubber (Smallest Dropbox type) to see if the idea works. It worked but the Unit I got was too small for my tank size to made any difference (quick enough)

Then built an Large Algae Scrubber into my Sump (upflow DIY), and it's been running on my Tank ever since.

I think that tear down/rock scrub (two times I think), then new start with the Algae Scrubber was the key to success since I haven't have problem since. (Even if I fed corals too much). YES I did have Cyano outbreaks, but never again Green Hair Algae.

BTW. I just noticed you posted on the other Thread a photo of your tank.
Looks like you got Cyano and GHA. Tank looks fairly young, and not too complicated to fix up.
LIke I mentioned above. Just Take out the Rocks and Scrub with a GOOD Hard Bristel Brush Really good (outside of tank). Rinse (outside of tank). Put them back. If it comes back. Do again.

You rocks might be doing what mine did. Leaching out Phosphate so that why Algae is growing on them. It won't stop till all the Phosphate are out of rocks. Might take a few cycles.

No problem if you add critters, but they don't like bushy, long hair algae. They like short algae here or there patches. (Unless you can rent/borrow a Sea Hare....Since not recommended for small algae problems since they will die when they run out of Big Algae Food).
I think Best Crabs are Blue Legged Hermits. Ton's of small ones. (Don't get any large Crabs, since they kill snails and do more damage than good).

Also if you want a Crab to Clean GHA. There is one special one that will EAT GHA just like a SeaHare. It's called a Sally Lightfoot Crab. I had one (tiny like a penny) in a different tank, and it cleaned and clean like crazy. Then it disappeared. I thought it was dead. Then it showed up a few months later (since I think it only came out at night). It came out in daytime because it was hungry. But it came out HUGE. Size of a Large Softball, and it freaked my whole family out, including me. SCARY creature. Fast too. No Algae Left so it started scraping the Glass Walls to try and eat the algae film. It acted insane. Then it died from starvation.

For the Cyano, you might just have to wait it out (patiently for a few weeks...Not two weeks......10 or more).
I assume this is a young tank and YOUNG rocks too, so that will take time (at lots of patience).
I can help you if you have a tread going (let me know where it is).

 

[WallyB]

I had to find that Photo of the Sally Lightfoot when it got BIG....

I found it after long search. Keyword to find it was "MONSTER"

Somewhere in my archives I have a video when it was going Crazy.

Nice addition for this thread......Another of my Past Mistakes.

 

[revhtree]

Any updates??

 

[WallyB]

Any updates??

That's Funny @revhtree. Were you hoping for me to Have More Mishaps to Document.

Actually a few Month's ago I did have a Repeat MISHAP of the Past.

Was converting my Dosing over from a Kalk Trial (that didn't go well), back to Two Part Dosing, and ran Manually the Lines clean. I Primed up the Two Part Bottles/lines....
Got things setup, and for some Dumb Unknown Reason, I thought I flipped the Apex Programming for basic 30ml a day.
I still don't know what I did (Probably a missed Save), but found my FULL ESV Part-1-Alkalinty 1 Gallon JUG drained down 1/3, close to 1/2 Empty.

Only thing stopping the full drain is I didn't drop the tube all the way into JUG.

My Alk shot up BIG TIME as you would Expect. I posted for help on R2R, and got some mixed advice (to Leave it, or Dose some Vinegar to bring down Alk).
I did the Vinegar approach....A Cup, two or three, in phases to wait for mix into TANK.
It brought down Alk to Super High Readable, but not off charts.

At first it looked like I saved the LPS Tank. Had this been my SPS tank it would have been Bye-Bye ALL SPS.
However it took a bit of time for Damage to Show up. Not total wipeout but Damage that progressed over time.
Still recovering. Some stuff didn't make it.

So it was that event, and other Factors, like the endless wait for a Alk Monitor (by the Neptune folks).
Factors like Financially not willing to upgrade to newest Apex (x2), nor change to Another Controller Brand.

Plus I have 3 Tanks, and really only need Alk monitoring since when dosing 2 Part Dosing (Calc/Mag follow Balanced).

So I GOT MOTIVATED…..

3 months to Design/Build/and Program....Almost finished...

I built myself SOME ACCIDENT PREVENTION.

A Sneak Peek of the one of the Most Advanced Standalone, DIY Alk Monitor Controllers ever made.
For now Alk, but the Lab is designed for other possible measurements (Phosphate next on my wish list)

-> Standalone, Web Based, Internet accessible , Dual Controller, 3 Displays, 1 Touch Screen.
-> It works 100% (tested). 3 Tanks. ( Accuracy 0.1 dKh ). A-La Carte Scheduled Monitoring.
-> Very Reasonable Cost Single Regent. No probes to calibrate/replace. Self Cleaning. No distance limit.
-> Uses some clever tricks, Robotics, and AI Computer Vision. (A dozen Computer Languages, on 2 Operating Systems)
-> Even integrates with Apex Fusion (if you wish) for additional Integration/Control

ECO FRIENDLY: Made from Mostly Spare Electronics I had lying around, INCLUDING a Broken All in one HP Printer for the Housing (a ton of parts inside. Re-used).

Just finishing up Fine Touch Programing (ie Graphs, Doser Control, Custom Configs, Lighting, ALERTS, etc)...

I will be posting all the features, and a Working Demo Video on my Tank Thread when done.
A New Beginning Tank Thread ( Project Genesis II - AutoPilot ) since I just cleaned up the Office Tank. Loading up new Frags, and going at SPS one more time with some Confidence over any Water Parameter (instability or ACCIDENT!!).

I call the Next Attempt at SPS (Auto-Pilot) since over last while (years, not months) I also built a few other DIY controllers to run-all 3 Tanks.

All I need to build is DIY Frozen Food Feeder, and I'm set to just do the Fun Reef Stuff I like.

 

[Hermie]

;Jawdrop

 

[revhtree]

That's Funny @revhtree. Were you hoping for me to Have More Mishaps to Document.

Actually a few Month's ago I did have a Repeat MISHAP of the Past.

Was converting my Dosing over from a Kalk Trial (that didn't go well), back to Two Part Dosing, and ran Manually the Lines clean. I Primed up the Two Part Bottles/lines....
Got things setup, and for some Dumb Unknown Reason, I thought I flipped the Apex Programming for basic 30ml a day.
I still don't know what I did (Probably a missed Save), but found my FULL ESV Part-1-Alkalinty 1 Gallon JUG drained down 1/3, close to 1/2 Empty.

Only thing stopping the full drain is I didn't drop the tube all the way into JUG.

My Alk shot up BIG TIME as you would Expect. I posted for help on R2R, and got some mixed advice (to Leave it, or Dose some Vinegar to bring down Alk).
I did the Vinegar approach....A Cup, two or three, in phases to wait for mix into TANK.
It brought down Alk to Super High Readable, but not off charts.

At first it looked like I saved the LPS Tank. Had this been my SPS tank it would have been Bye-Bye ALL SPS.
However it took a bit of time for Damage to Show up. Not total wipeout but Damage that progressed over time.
Still recovering. Some stuff didn't make it.

So it was that event, and other Factors, like the endless wait for a Alk Monitor (by the Neptune folks).
Factors like Financially not willing to upgrade to newest Apex (x2), nor change to Another Controller Brand.

Plus I have 3 Tanks, and really only need Alk monitoring since when dosing 2 Part Dosing (Calc/Mag follow Balanced).

So I GOT MOTIVATED…..

3 months to Design/Build/and Program....Almost finished...

I built myself SOME ACCIDENT PREVENTION.

A Sneak Peek of the one of the Most Advanced Standalone, DIY Alk Monitor Controllers ever made.
For now Alk, but the Lab is designed for other possible measurements (Phosphate next on my wish list)

-> Standalone, Web Based, Internet accessible , Dual Controller, 3 Displays, 1 Touch Screen.
-> It works 100% (tested). 3 Tanks. ( Accuracy 0.1 dKh ). A-La Carte Scheduled Monitoring.
-> Very Reasonable Cost Single Regent. No probes to calibrate/replace. Self Cleaning. No distance limit.
-> Uses some clever tricks, Robotics, and AI Computer Vision. (A dozen Computer Languages, on 2 Operating Systems)
-> Even integrates with Apex Fusion (if you wish) for additional Integration/Control

ECO FRIENDLY: Made from Mostly Spare Electronics I had lying around, INCLUDING a Broken All in one HP Printer for the Housing (a ton of parts inside. Re-used).

Just finishing up Fine Touch Programing (ie Graphs, Doser Control, Custom Configs, Lighting, ALERTS, etc)...

I will be posting all the features, and a Working Demo Video on my Tank Thread when done.
A New Beginning Tank Thread ( Project Genesis II - AutoPilot ) since I just cleaned up the Office Tank. Loading up new Frags, and going at SPS one more time with some Confidence over any Water Parameter (instability or ACCIDENT!!).

I call the Next Attempt at SPS (Auto-Pilot) since over last while (years, not months) I also built a few other DIY controllers to run-all 3 Tanks.

All I need to build is DIY Frozen Food Feeder, and I'm set to just do the Fun Reef Stuff I like.

Ok wow! LOL!

 

[WallyB]

Any updates??

Actually @revtree, I got a new one.

Kicking myself for this, but Major Damage was avoided by catching the mistake.

New Pointpoint Salinity Monitor (OOOPS, 53 not 35)

Basically what happened is for years, I've been using a refractometer to watch my salinity and mix salt to proper spec.
I would go by 1.026 (specific Gravity) or 35 (ppt) like it shows thru the viewfinder.

The pinpoint probe I got show (Salinity in mS unit), so 1.026 sG show up as 53 ms on the Point Display.

The pinpoint is wonderful: Portable, and so quick to check, I used it right away for mixing salt, watch it go up with each scoop of salt.

BUT ON MY LAST SALT WATER MAKEUP....I was tired, distracted and made up my salt thinking 35 ms not 53ms!!

So easy to flip 35/53 when you not thinking clearly.

Good thing I never did this for my Water Changer Reservoir of 50 Gallons.
THis batch was made to siphon off 10 Gallons for Detritus removal.

I used it and my salinty slightly dropped. I notice the change a few days later.
That's when I discovered my Salt mix was wrong.

I thought is was due to my ATO.

Another lesson learned. ( I did actually stress my Corals a bit, but not serious Damage)

Here is a Great Salinity Top up Table that I used to bring my Salinity back up SLOWLY over 3 days.
You basically replace your Fresh Water Top up with Salt water and it slowly rises to perfect restoration.

https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/SaltwaterTopOff.php

And this table is what I should have paid attention to.