BackbayReef’s 450gal

[lubeck]

Nitrate is still 54 today so decreased to 2mls/min to build up the bacteria army. Hope tomorrow will be different...

In the meantime, I'm making some SPS frags and shopping for trace elements based on the last ICP test. I might cheat and just dose Brighwell REPLENISH or Tropic Marin K+ and A-. What do you guys recommend?

What brought it down from the 80’s to the 50’s? Are you still carbon dising?

Sorry, Can’t help with trace elements. I’m a routine WC guy.

 

[EliMelly]

Sulfur denitrator is online but need to fix a leaky o-ring and wait for the precision needle valve. I have a Kamoer but it’s easier to tap into the return of the Abyzz! No additional power / equipment needed. We can control the flow rate via the needle valve, similar to the calcium reactor.

Your tank is officially way too complicated for me to understand.

 

[backbayreef]

What brought it down from the 80’s to the 50’s? Are you still carbon dising?

Sorry, Can’t help with trace elements. I’m a routine WC guy.

No - that’s in the cup (effluent out of the reactor). We will dial up the flow once this hits zero. The tank is still in the mid-high 80s.

I’m still dosing vodka but very low amount since anything higher than 20mls, I would get cyano.

 

[backbayreef]

Your tank is officially way too complicated for me to understand.

lol - very simple really.

Nitrate: I’m trying to reduce nitrate (and keep it there) by getting bacteria to colonize/consume sulfur under very low oxygen environment. Once dialed in, you don’t worry about WC / nitrate for 12-18+ months!

Phosphate: dose lanthanum chloride. At 15mls/day, my PO4 stays under 0.10!!! Super cool.

 

[EliMelly]

lol - very simple really.

Nitrate: I’m trying to reduce nitrate (and keep it there) by getting bacteria to colonize/consume sulfur under very low oxygen environment. Once dialed in, you don’t worry about WC / nitrate for 12-18+ months!

Phosphate: dose lanthanum chloride. At 15mls/day, my PO4 stays under 0.10!!! Super cool.

We’re due for a catch up lol

 

[backbayreef]

I watch these parameters multiple times a day! :)

If nitrate comes down to sub 20ppm, I think that it’s safe to add SPS frags.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

I watch these parameters multiple times a day! :)

If nitrate comes down to sub 20ppm, I think that it’s safe to add SPS frags.

That's some high Ca and ORP. I see your running ozone...

 

[backbayreef]

That high CA is misleading and I will recalibrate this weekend. I was playing with the feed line to the CaRx and it jumped. CA was around 450’ish prior to that. I honestly don’t care about CA(although annoying to see), just watch Alk since they are dosed in equal amount. However, I do realize that sulfur-denitrification will consume more alk over time, showing imbalance, but not this high.

Indeed - been running ozone for a few months now for 3hrs/night at 50%. Water is crystal clear! I’m planning to switch to 24/7 but run at 10%. The thing that’s annoying about ozone: you have to change carbon and I’m lazy! I’ve heard people do run ozone without carbon so that’s tempting…lol

 

[backbayreef]

Mini Reef update — added a purple gorgonian colony, Rastas & Stratosphere zoas, Hologram hammer, Dragon Soul torch, and Juggernaut bounce mushroom! At this rate, I should create a separate build thread? This experimental reef is becoming permanent! lol

 

[lubeck]

Looks great. Like the macro

 

[backbayreef]

Effluent’s nitrate reached zero so we’re going to increase flow

 

[backbayreef]

This is the effect of alk depletion while doing sulfur-denitrator. I don’t trust the data though - it can’t be that fast at 450gal. The nitrate drop is expected (measuring the effluent only).

 

[backbayreef]

Effluent’s nitrate is now 2.4ppm at 15mls/min - definitely working well! ;) Will keep this up until we get to 50-70mls/min. Long way to go but definitely working as expected.

Phosphate is on the low side at 0.01 so I’ve adjusted LC dosing accordingly (12mls/day).

 

[backbayreef]

Just upgraded to a Tunze ATO 3 — this is a huge upgrade from previous generations.

 

[danreef55]

Just upgraded to a Tunze ATO 3 — this is a huge upgrade from previous generations.

I am using one as well. Thus far it is flawlessly operating

 

[backbayreef]

Sat morning video - nitrate is still high (70s) so we’ll just chill with the fish for now at Hotel California.

 

[backbayreef]

ORP hit 481 and pierced the 450mV mark last night. Ozone didn’t run, which was expected.

During that jump in ORP, I tweaked the CaRx, which was stuck and was just recirculating water. Guess once I released the valve, oxygen-trapped in the reactor got released?

Should I be concerned with this high ORP?

 

[backbayreef]

Nitrate update - we're not there yet. The sulfur reactor's effluent is 0.6ppm at 15mls/min (~5gal/day) so I've increased to 20mls/min. I had air inside the reactor last week so had to restart. Might still need 2 more weeks to show an actual reduction in overall nitrate. I will try a few SPS frags in ~3 weeks.

Anyway, looks like I can't even grow bounce mushrooms in the 450gal. Less than 2min after trying a few JF Raunchy Red mushrooms, the Kleine Butterfly ate the bubbles! Oh well - guess SPS is the only thing that will survive to onslaught.

 

[backbayreef]

One of the rabbitfish got attacked and went MIA for 2 days now. I can’t seem to find it anywhere in the rock structure. I’ve filed a Missing Fish Report but no witness has come forward yet :crying-face:

 

[backbayreef]

The ozone’s carbon is long overdue for a replacement. I took the liberty of yanking the Avast’s carbon and replaced with a Geo carbon reactor. It’s much easier to swap out carbon so I won’t get too lazy…

Additionally now that we’re just waiting for nitrate to come down, I’ve removed the Kamoer and just use the precision needle valve - much simpler / cleaner setup.