Blackizzz shallow zeovit tank

[blackizzz]

Decided to try a CO2 scrubber, so bought some media. However I couldn't source a good reactor anywhere close, so decided to make one out of a bottle
The intake is routed to the skimmer cup, so hopefully that will extend media life a little bit. I'm only using about 300ml of media, so it will be interesting to see how long it'll last.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Looking good!

 

[blackizzz]

Looking good!

Thank you Daniel! We need an update in your thread!

 

[Hemmdog]

Awesome tank! That is my nightmare that my return pump would break while I’m on vacation ;Dead

 

[Dlealrious]

Tank is doing good.

For some reason I can't for the life of me bring the KH down despite what salt I use (three different salts tried) Corals aren't really coloring as well as they should due to this, but finally got some growth again, even if it's minimal!

Just scraped the glass, so a little too much particles in the water for photos, but I'll try and get some decent ones, but for now this will have to do

Bought a PAR meter and did some testing, as a result I've increased the light intensity, to try and land in the 250-400 PAR "sweet-spot"

I have this same piece, nearly gave up on it until I saw what it turns into. Mine is still just green too.

 

[blackizzz]

Awesome tank! That is my nightmare that my return pump would break while I’m on vacation ;Dead

Thank you, and thanks for the "like bomb"
Yeah it was quite a stressful time, despite being on vacation! But "all's well that ends well"! The tank survived

I have this same piece, nearly gave up on it until I saw what it turns into. Mine is still just green too.

Could you post a picture of it in your thread? Like to see what yours look like!

 

[blackizzz]

Received a small shipment of acros this week
4 pieces



They've been in the tank since wednesday, and are doing quite well

First pic is taken with a yellow-tint filter as it was taken at night with coral snow in the tank but I'm too lazy to take another The rest are just straight out of the phone, full spectrum lighting

The fourth is just a little bit too close to the glass to get enough light to show the colors on a picture, but I'll get a top down once they're mounted

 

[Variant]

Is that an angel in your tank? Hows it doing with the sps?

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Hey @blackizzz I think we need an updated FTS!

 

[blackizzz]

Is that an angel in your tank? Hows it doing with the sps?

That's right, a Potter's angel He's a model citizen with the SPS, never paid them any attention (so far at least). He does however nip on LPS sometimes, so they're often not very happy Luckily there's basically only SPS

From what I've heard the shape of the mouth can tell which kind of corals they might nip on.
Wider mouth tends to go after LPS, more "pointy" mouth tends to go for SPS. Got no source for that though

 

[blackizzz]

Hey @blackizzz I think we need an updated FTS!

I agree!

However I'm currently battling some kind of annoying nuisance algae / bacteria (I'm taking a beating at the moment) ;Blackeye A microscope is hopefully getting here by tomorrow so I can ID and hopefully start some kind of treatment plan. Since most of the corals are quite annoyed at the moment, I'll share some before and after photos once the treatment is done
Suspecting Dino's, as you can probably tell by the microscope

 

[blackizzz]

So with the use of a toy microscope and some googling, I've positively identified my nuisance "algae" as the dinoflagellate Ostreopsis Ovata. Luckily, no matter where I check, I can find any other type of dinoflagellates.

(Sorry for the pretty lousy picture, but one can't expect much from a $11 microscope and a phone camera )

Doing some quick research, Ostreopsis are often toxic (good thing I've been using activated carbon since the start of the tank's life!) and are kind of a plague ;Bored

What's my course of action? Well, I'm not entirely sure, feeding more seems to "spur them on" and the following day they appear in greater spread.

I think I will do the following:

1. Remove the zeovit media and reactor, turn off dosage of carbon source and bacteria. (at least temporarily) This should let N/P rise "naturally".
2. Stop doing water changes (been doing once or twice a week). Will have to decide on a solution to vacuuming the sandbed without waterchanges.
3. Turn off skimmer (?)
4. Buy and install a 20w (or larger) UVC.

After N/P has increased:
5. Introduce "new" LR, to "seed" the tank with more biodiversity.

If anyone has any input, I'll gladly accept it
(I'll also post in the indispensable (but massive) dinoflagellate thread)

 

[Sherman]

Any update

 

[blackizzz]

Any update

Definitely!

I was away from home for a week, but before I left I installed an 20w UV filter, plus I removed the Zeovit reactor, media and all dosing.
Got back this morning to a tank that's 99.9% clear of Dinos. The last .1% I'm not even sure is dinos, but could be something else

Corals look a bit "stressed" as in little polyp extension, but overall the tank looks a lot better. I'll snap a picture after water change tomorrow and post here!
A couple corals have gotten burned tips from the Ostreopsis toxin, but I'm sure they'll improve pretty quickly since there's no dino's bothering them anymore.

 

[blackizzz]

Been super busy, but tank is looking a little better each day.

No sign of any dino’s returning, but cyano has gotten a hold. “Luckily” the cyano is less troublesome than Dino, so I’m happy

Unfortunately there’s not as much PE as I usually experience, but I guess that’ll return once things get back to normal!

As visible some tips are still healing, or at least trying to hehe. Parameters are rock solid and hopefully some more growth will follow!
Coloration has improved a lot since the Dinos disappeared.

No FTS just yet, I’ve been to lazy to scrape the glass

 

[blackizzz]

Been away for a week working, tank is buzzing along just fine. Some growth and no major problems at the moment

Cyano is still trying to do its thing, but it’s kept under some kind of control by manual siphoning.

Today we celebrate “midsummers eve” here in Sweden, so:
Glad Midsommar! to all fellow reefers out there

 

[Mattres]

Went to go through your journal mate and realised i had already gone through it a while back and forgot to comment!
Glad to hear the dino's have subsided and the corals are looking great mate!
I second the need for an updated FTS!

 

[Aleks]

Hey. Very interesting thread, read it completely ...... super.
I also have a small aquarium at Zeovit
but I could not get the color and growth of corals, and there are no high polyps.
Have you returned to zeovit reactor?

 

[blackizzz]

Went to go through your journal mate and realised i had already gone through it a while back and forgot to comment!
Glad to hear the dino's have subsided and the corals are looking great mate!
I second the need for an updated FTS!

Thanks for stopping by Matt! Once I’m back home again in about a week I’ll give the tank some glass cleaning love and then try and snap a FTS

 

[blackizzz]

Hey. Very interesting thread, read it completely ...... super.
I also have a small aquarium at Zeovit
but I could not get the color and growth of corals, and there are no high polyps.
Have you returned to zeovit reactor?

Hi Aleks, glad you like it! Do you have a thread for your tank?
I always experienced great polyp extension with Zeo, and for the most part good coloration.

I have not yet started the reactor again, and I’m undecided whether to or not. Since the coloration is good and improving, and growth is increasing I might hold off on that. I’m still occasionally dosing Zeovit additives, but only sporadically.

If/when I use Zeovit again, I’ll definitely go for an automatic reactor. I figure the added stability then by not missing pumpings will be beneficial to the tank.