Big Jon's nano upgrade

[12gallonsofhex]

Whelp, between limited amount of time to dedicate to the reef (due to newborn) and testing nutrients constantly to deal with dinos, I have dropped the ball on my alkalinity. My system had been rock steady at 7.9 using a heavy 1/4 tsp per gallon of kalk to a gallon of rodi. I guess that dosing nutrients made the corals happy and so they must be using more carbonate and calcium. I am going to have to change my routine with this reef. I think I am going to come home for lunch at least 3 days a week to test no3, po4, and alk.
The good news is that my zoas are spreading much faster, and my other corals are looking happy. If I could give anyone with low nutrients advise, it would be to start dosing.

 

[NY_Caveman]

SPAM

 

[12gallonsofhex]

I fed the tank some live phyto this morning, and tried Reef Frenzy for the first time tonight. My corals loved the change up and their feeders were extended most of the day. I am hoping the phyto helps the pod population increase and help to control my fledgling dino outbreak. I have Live-rock enhance being shipped from Marine Depot to help out compete the dinos as well. All in all the tank is looking well, and my new bubblegum digi frag is starting to get some green color to it as promised by the seller.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Very happy with the frags I picked up 3 weeks ago. The bubblegum digi is getting green spots that the vendor told me it would, and the cyphastrea is already growing onto the frag plug.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

The dinos are losing this battle of attrition. They are very slow to grow back with the nutrient dosing. I have noticed that they are growing on my filter sock, so I am going island-life. No socks.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Today I moved the frags from the frag farmers market to their permanent spots. I ended up giving away the red setosa and my second purple stylo because I am just out of room. I did the first water change in 2 months and put a limewood airstone in front of the return pump to try lifting some of the detritus from the rocks and sandbed. I am not conviced that the brown stuff left in the sandbed is dinos anymore. Its not stringy and has no air bubbles in it. Maybe it is brown cyano or ? I guess time will tell.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

This is the day. Day 1 of the dinoflagellates support group system for rebalancing the microfauna of my reef tank, and hopefully ridding the sandbed of dinos once and for all. I had them under control at one point by dosing nutrients, but then the chaeto started growing like crazy. I would trim it to a single fist sized clump and within 2 days it was triple the size. I think my 'fuge is too effective.

I syphoned the dinos into a fine filter sock, dosed dr tims one and only, dosed dr tims waste away, dosed vodka, turned off the skimmer, and left the limewood airstone in front of the return pump.

I will try to post daily updates during this procedure so others can follow along and know what to expect. I have not Identified the type of dinoflagellate. It grows mostly in the sand and gets bubbles but not so much strings. I pray that this works.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Today is day 2 of the Elegant Corals dinoflagellates program. I siphoned the visible dinos off of the sand bed and dosed the vodka. I am concerned about the loss of sandbed. I am trying to get only the dinos and not the sand, but the sand goes with it. I worry that taking out portions of the sand leaves less surface area for the new bacteria to thrive in. I am not sure if I should add new sand to it or if that will interrupt the process. The water is also looking cloudy and I am not sure if thats because the stirring of 1/3 the sand bed or a bacteria bloom. I am going to follow the directions exactly and trust that someone much smarter than I put this process together.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Today is day 2 of the Elegant Corals dinoflagellates program. I siphoned the visible dinos off of the sand bed and dosed the vodka. I am concerned about the loss of sandbed. I am trying to get only the dinos and not the sand, but the sand goes with it. I worry that taking out portions of the sand leaves less surface area for the new bacteria to thrive in. I am not sure if I should add new sand to it or if that will interrupt the process. The water is also looking cloudy and I am not sure if thats because the stirring of 1/3 the sand bed or a bacteria bloom. I am going to follow the directions exactly and trust that someone much smarter than I put this process together.

Don’t worry about bacteria in the sand. There is plenty in the rock. You could suck out all the sand slowly over time and be fine.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Don’t worry about bacteria in the sand. There is plenty in the rock. You could suck out all the sand slowly over time and be fine.

Thanks caveman! I wont worry about it and wait until the process is over to replace it.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Well, day 3 got long and I didn't have time to post. I dosed more vodka, syphoned the dinos that grew from the day, and dosed more bacteria. I have not been able to get ph up to the 8.6 that Elegant Corals recommends, but it has been rock solid at 8.3 with a dkh of 8.4. The water has been cloudy today which I guess is the bacteria bloom that we are trying to accomplish.

Day 4 of the process and the sand bed is clean of any noticeable new dino growth. Water is still cloudy, but not as much as yesterday. On the docket today was dosing vodka, dosing a very small amount of h2o2 to the skimmer intake tube, and turning the skimmer on for the first time in this process. I dosed the daily nutrients to keep them detectable and I also stirred 1/3 of the sandbed.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Day 5 of dino-wars. There was very little brown stuff on the sand today. Maybe this thing works. Dosed more vodka, h202, one-and-only, waste-away, and nutrients. Stirred 1/3 of sandbed and added a little kalkwasser solution to up the ph and dkh.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Its day 6 of dino wars. More vodka, more h202, more nutrients, and less dinos. The cloudy looking water cleared up yesterday and is staying clear so far. My skimmer decided to act up on a night that I dont have time to take it apart and clean it. I hope it doesn't mess up this process having it at 50 percent for a day.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Day 7 is pretty much like day 6. Still have Dinos growing overnight, but slower. I think i might have to do this program at least one more time.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

I started the Elegant corals process again. I added new sand because I sucked up so much during the last go round. I went with a bigger grain live sand hoping to keep it in place with all the flow. Heres hoping the second time works.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

A week late, but I finally have some time to give the jebaos a citric acid dip. I am interested to see how well it works. I am going to soak for 10 minutes, then 20, then 30 until I find the least amount of soak time to achieve an easy cleaning. I will report back soon.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

10 minute soak and about half the coraline brushed off with an old toothbrush. There is xalcium buildup floating on tge surface.

Back in for another 10.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

20 minutes of soaking and the majority of the coraline brushed right off. I can scrape the couple pieces off with my thumbnail, but will continue soaking the other parts for the experiment.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Well, 30 minutes is the ticket. These parts cleaned right up with minimal effort. They were covered in coraline to the point it was flaking off, and now they look as clean as the day I put them into service 11 months ago.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

Busy day for my nano. I got some goodies to play with. I am leaving for a long weekend soon and need to feed and dose nutrients. I got a wifi autofeeder and Jeboa doser. They were both super easy to set up and calibrate. I will just be setting them up temporarily for the trip, but mounting the doser in the stand over the holidays. I am running out of room under this 20 gallon long, but have an interesting idea about how to mount 4 dosing containers. I am excited to have a new project for my reef tank.