Big Jon's nano upgrade

[12gallonsofhex]

I started building a floating hood for my lights. I really dislike the look of the aluminum legs, and I think the guide wires dangling from the ceiling is worse. It is going to be 2 pieces: one piece will mount to the wall like a floating shelf, and the second piece will house the light(s) and mount to the first piece with a 45 degree wege so that it can be moved for maintenance. The light mounting brackets are not glued in so that it can be repositioned when my other light is finished being built. I am only getting a few hours per weekend to work on it but i hope to have it finished soon.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

After a few weekends of working on the hood between feeding the baby, its finally up!
I used my old, cheap Aqua Knight light over Mt. Zoa and moved the T247 over to the left side of the tank. I was able to create a low light third of the tank and the other 2/3 varies between 160 and 240 par. The Aqua Knight is temporary and will be replaced by a BB led that a member is building for me.
The hood is removeable by removing the 2 stainless steel pins and lifting up. It then gets set on the bracket attached to the wall like a floating shelf.
I ran out of paint so i need to put a second coat on the outside, and also find a way to hide the wires.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

The corals seem to be liking the new light set up. I made good use of an early day at work and deep cleaned the tank and sump. I am battling a NO3 and PO4 problem; namely that there is none. Its not a problem I expected to encounter, lol. I pulled some Chaeto out of the fuge, set the skimmer cup higher, and reduced 'fuge lighting.

I have a beautiful kryptonite candy cane that is dying. I tried to put it into more flow and the skeleton started showing through the polyps. I moved it to a lower flow area where its getting about 120 par. I am really praying that it pulls through. I hate killing coral. I have only lost one since December. It was a cool green and purple Favia in my old system.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Tank looks great.. love the DIY light!

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Tank looks great.. love the DIY light!

Thanks!

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Today I tried to save my candy cane. I dipped it in Coral Rx and blew off bad tissue with a Turkey baster. I also dipped my Rastas in hydrogen peroxide. They were thrown into the sand by a hermit crab and have not opened since. On a better note, my 2 purple stylos that bleached out soon after introduction to my tank are coloring back up nicely! I think they are going to make it. I am praying for the kryptonite candy cane. I would trade the other 3 corals to have it survive.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

The candy cane is looking better. I dipped in coralrx and then iodine 5 days later. The polyps have reclaimed the ridges at the top of the skeleton so I hope it continues to heal. The rest of the tank is looking good. I have yet to test for an increase in no3 po4 but will by next weekend. I am hoping to see some nutrients soon.

 

[Bryson.bobby]

Looking really good! I’ll be following this thread as well

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Looking really good! I’ll be following this thread as well

Thanks!

 

[CaliReef24]

Dude! I drank a beer for you after going through this thread. Good freaking job man! An inspiration!

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Dude! I drank a beer for you after going through this thread. Good freaking job man! An inspiration!

Thank you! What kind was it? I like a Blue Moon, an 805, maybe good hefeweizen.

 

[CaliReef24]

Thank you! What kind was it? I like a Blue Moon, an 805, maybe good hefeweizen.

It was a lagunitas! Haha, I would never turn down an 805 too

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Its been a week since the iodine dip, and the Kryptonite candy cane is looking good. It has been extending its feeders every night and getting fatter every day. The nutrients are not coming up, but the corals are all looking happy so I am just going to add Fuel coral food twice a week along with reef chili and the daily mysis/tdo pellets.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Well, it finally happened. My unwillingness to throw a bunch of extra food into my low to no nutrient tank has bit me in the rear. I came home yesterday to see dinos covering parts of my sand bed. Sigh....
Guess its time to find a microscope and i.d. these little buggers.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Good news! With the help of @sfin52 there are very little remains of the dinos. I think I treated early enough that they didnt get a good foothold, knock on wood. I guess time will tell, but so far I think they are under control.

 

[sfin52]

Good news! With the help of @sfin52 there are very little remains of the dinos. I think I treated early enough that they didnt get a good foothold, knock on wood. I guess time will tell, but so far I think they are under control.

Looking really good. You just made my day.

 

[sfin52]

Looking really good. You just made my day.

What's your no3 and po4. Also can you explain what you did for others that may come across your dino experience.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

My NO3 is now between 2.5 and 5ppm and my PO4 is between .03 and .06ppm. Its hard to tell po4 with the Salifert.

Heres what I did with some guidance from a fellow reefer; I jumped on it quickly. First step was to order a fine filter sock (advertised as 1 micron), some potassium nitrate, and some trisodium phosphate. I sucked the dinos off the sand and rocks and then turned off the lights until the order showed up (one day). The next day I made up the po4 and no3 solutions. I found the calculations searching R2R that led me to planted freshwater sites. Just read through some of Randy Holmes Farley's posts to verify math. I dosed to bring NO3 up to 1ppm from 0 and po4 to 0.015ppm. I turned the lights back on halfway through the day. I then put the fine filter sock in my sump and used a siphon hose to suck up the dinos that grew back, then swapped filter socks and washed it out. The next day (day 3) I turned the lights back on to regular schedule and dosed the same amount in the morning. That night I siphoned dinos through the fine filter and dosed the same amount again. Today (day 4) there is almost no sign of dinos. I am going to continue to keep no3 around 5ppm and no4 around .03 and let algae grow on my back glass to out compete any remaining dinos. When I am confident that they are beat down I will clean the algae from the back glass in stages as not to shock the system. Hopefully this helps another reefer!

 

[sfin52]

My NO3 is now between 2.5 and 5ppm and my PO4 is between .03 and .06ppm. Its hard to tell po4 with the Salifert.

Heres what I did with some guidance from a fellow reefer; I jumped on it quickly. First step was to order a fine filter sock (advertised as 1 micron), some potassium nitrate, and some trisodium phosphate. I sucked the dinos off the sand and rocks and then turned off the lights until the order showed up (one day). The next day I made up the po4 and no3 solutions. I found the calculations searching R2R that led me to planted freshwater sites. Just read through some of Randy Holmes Farley's posts to verify math. I dosed to bring NO3 up to 1ppm from 0 and po4 to 0.015ppm. I turned the lights back on halfway through the day. I then put the fine filter sock in my sump and used a siphon hose to suck up the dinos that grew back, then swapped filter socks and washed it out. The next day (day 3) I turned the lights back on to regular schedule and dosed the same amount in the morning. That night I siphoned dinos through the fine filter and dosed the same amount again. Today (day 4) there is almost no sign of dinos. I am going to continue to keep no3 around 5ppm and no4 around .03 and let algae grow on my back glass to out compete any remaining dinos. When I am confident that they are beat down I will clean the algae from the back glass in stages as not to shock the system. Hopefully this helps another reefer!

I am sure it will. Nice write up. Great thinking on short black out.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

I am sure it will. Nice write up. I didnt know you did a black out. Great thinking.

Yeah, I thought it might slow them down while i waited for the order to show up. I did not fully blackout the tank in fear of killing off algae that may be helpful in competing with the Dinos