Bo0sted 40b Build

[revhtree]

Looking good!

 

[Benga]

How do you like the skimmer, i need one with the same footprint. Also is your sump a 20G long?

 

[bo0sted2g]

How do you like the skimmer, i need one with the same footprint. Also is your sump a 20G long?

Yes it's a 20 long sump. And for the space the K2-50 skimmer is a work horse. My only complaint is that the collection cup is pretty small and I have to empty it every 3 days or so. Other than that it does such a good job I actually have to dose nitrates to keep them from bottoming out at zero.

 

[Benga]

Yes it's a 20 long sump. And for the space the K2-50 skimmer is a work horse. My only complaint is that the collection cup is pretty small and I have to empty it every 3 days or so. Other than that it does such a good job I actually have to dose nitrates to keep them from bottoming out at zero.

Nice, glad to hear it works really well it's high on my puchase list now. You might want to look into a skim mate collection bottle or something to attach to the collection cup.

How do you dose nitrates? I didn't know them being at 0 was not good, maybe this is why my chaeto stopped growing.

 

[bo0sted2g]

Nice, glad to hear it works really well it's high on my puchase list now. You might want to look into a skim mate collection bottle or something to attach to the collection cup.

How do you dose nitrates? I didn't know them being at 0 was not good, maybe this is why my chaeto stopped growing.

There is a drain nipple on the bottom of the cup and it comes with a extra hose to run to a bottle I just don't use it, god forbid the skimmer goes nuts and overflows skimmate onto my carpet. YUCK!! Right now if it overflows it just goes back into the sump to be skimmed out again.

As far as the nitrate thing goes, I always read 0 nitrate was the number to chase. I killed a few balls of cheato and none of my corals barely grew in 8 months, my zoas started to slowly shrink away. Ultimately when my nitrate and phosphate bottomed out I got a NASTY dinoflagellate outbreak and had to pull my sandbed. Scrub the rocks daily and manually siphon the Dino's out. There are multiple ways to fight it but elevated nutrients and a UV sterilizer unit did the job for me. Check out the link to my cube build on the first post on the first page to check out that fiasco.

That being said I now try to keep my nitrates at around 5ppm (low but not 0) basically just detectable on my test kit. I do that by dosing a KNo3 powder (potassium nitrate) from green leaf aquatics. I think it's a fresh water planted tank fert. Obviously you can try feeding more or more fish but everything I tried couldn't raise it so I had to end up dosing it every now and then.

 

[bo0sted2g]

Nice build!

I see you also like to torture yourself with not only aquariums but also dsm's lol. I did as well. Here is a pic of my 95 gst from years back

I have been through a few different cars since the GS-T. The dsm was by far the most fun little car but was also the biggest pain in the butt to work on. Since then I've switched to subarus.
Had a 97 GST
05 legacy Gt with a turbo swap, front mount intercooler, Dyno tune. Made about 330hp
And I sold that and got this 2011 WRX hatch! Stock...for now
The Mitsubishi

The legacy

The WRX

 

[bo0sted2g]

Not much to update lately. The weather not been cooperating lately so I haven't been able to get those corals shipped out yet. I have been trying to combat a total bryopsis and bubble algae takeover.

I have been treating this with Vibrant for the last three weeks. I have to say it's starting to take a toll of these suckers. The bryopsis is less bushy and a lighter color and the bubble algae is starting to turn clear and break down. So far I haven't seen any poor effects on any coral or live stock.

 

[bo0sted2g]

While we had the real camera out taking photos of the algae Summer got some shots of the not so uglies too.

And a little something for those of you interested in the car half of this thread

 

[Benga]

Have you tried fluconazole for the Bryopsis?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bryopsis-cure-my-battle-with-bryopsis-using-fluconazole.285096/

 

[bo0sted2g]

Have you tried fluconazole for the Bryopsis?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bryopsis-cure-my-battle-with-bryopsis-using-fluconazole.285096/

I am currently trying Vibrant. It takes a little longer but will rid the bubble algae also. I am unsure if I can use both products at the same time but my plan is to use fluconazole after Vibrant if I don't get the results I'm looking for.

 

[Benga]

I am currently trying Vibrant. It takes a little longer but will rid the bubble algae also. I am unsure if I can use both products at the same time but my plan is to use fluconazole after Vibrant if I don't get the results I'm looking for.

Aight, keep us updated, I got some bryopsis in my sump and im worried it might hit the main tank. Tho it's just a strand here and there in the sump nothing close to the forest you have, yikes!

 

[bo0sted2g]

Luckily dosing the Vibrant and staying patient has been paying off! We are about 3 1/2 months into dosing every 3 days. I can say at this point 100% of the bubble algae is gone and 100% of the turf algae is gone and we are at about 85% gone on the bryopsis.

Here is a before and after on the bubble algae

BEFORE

AFTER

Turf algae before and after

BEFORE

AFTER

And a full tank before and after!
Still have a small amount of bryopsis to eliminate but am VERY happy with the progress of the Vibrant Aquarium Cleaner.

BEFORE

AFTER

 

[D805]

Looks like that vibrant is working great.Looking good.

 

[bo0sted2g]

As you can see in the above before and after pictures there's a few more corals in the tank now. I was finally able to pick up the Frags I bought in the online auction while I was at ReefStock in Denver. Picked up a couple other pieces at the expo too.

Here's most of them acclimating on the frag rack

 

[count krunk]

looking much better! how long did you let the silicone cure before you transferred everything over?

 

[bo0sted2g]

looking much better! how long did you let the silicone cure before you transferred everything over?

If I remember correctly 4 or 5 days

 

[count krunk]

well then the mystery continues. i'm quite sure most cure within 48 hours

 

[bo0sted2g]

well then the mystery continues. i'm quite sure most cure within 48 hours

Yeah stumped me for sure, I made sure to use all the water from the old tank supplemented with parameter matched fresh saltwater and used all the old rock and lighting and skimmer and no sand. Basically the only thing that changed were the outer glass tanks! And I would blame it on the Dino's I got but they didn't kill anything while the old tank was up and running with Dino's for months. Put everything in a new glass box and BAM most of the corals just went from the best they ever looked to dead as a door nail.

But hey everything is finally thriving now and we are almost over the bryopsis thing so fingers crossed it's time to enjoy a decent looking tank for a little while!

 

[McArcher]

Nice! Which Jebao wavemaker are you using? Is it just one pump or two? It's hard to tell from the pics.

 

[bo0sted2g]

Nice! Which Jebao wavemaker are you using? Is it just one pump or two? It's hard to tell from the pics.

Currently just using one Jebao PP-4 wavemaker and the VCA Random flow generator on the return nozzle.