Erk's Attempt at a Reef

[erk]

Frag rack is kind of working. Still doesn't stop the melanurus from flipping frags. I won't get rid of the wrasse though. I've had him forever. I've upped the amount I feed and that seems to have reduced his rock flipping behavior. Trying to get some aragonite rubble so I can drill it out and mount my LPS corals on them. That should save them from the behemoth.

Corals are rebounding from whatever was going on. I only know I had a spike in nutrients, presumably from algae die off, and a rapid spike in alkalinity. I basically stopped dosing two part and the levels have come back down. Seeing improved PE everyday.

Reducing the lighting has had an awesome effect. I'm actually seeing growth on every coral I keep. Waiting for the PAR sensor to come back so I can see what my PAR levels are at.

 

[erk]

Bought a monti frag off ebay from a guy in Georgia that ships via USPS Priority. Was only $35 shipped, so wanted to see if it would work.

Shipping was fast and the packaging was phenomenal, but as expected, spending 2-3 days in a box doesn't work for coral. The frag was covered in slime and so I placed it on the sandbed in high flow. Slime cleared, but now it is bleaching. Polyps seem to be holding on so it might rebound. Either way I won't be purchasing again. USPS is just too slow.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Interesting. Worth trying. Thanks for sharing the experience.

 

[erk]

Interesting. Worth trying. Thanks for sharing the experience.

The frag is a flower petal monti, green base with bright blue polyps. It's been in the tank a day and most of the very large frag has bleached, but some flesh has remained on the edge facing flow and the polyps haven't bailed completely. I'm wondering if maybe I should've brushed off the slime so the coral could breath. I might try ordering from the guy again to see if this works.

Link

 

[erk]

PO4 is still elevated. Sitting just over .2 ppm per Hanna ULR. While corals are still doing ok, they are kinda brown. Gonna try to get this back down below .1 ppm. Still confused why the PO4 and NO3 spiked like they did.

 

[erk]

The coral I bought that was shipped via USPS is still alive, well part of it. Seems to have stabilized and I have PE. As long as I can keep things stable, I think it should recover.

Melanurus wrasse is still being a pain. :mad: Keeps knocking over frags, even the ones on rocks. Really irritates the corals when I have to reach in and fix them.

I let the alkalinity drop to 8.5 dkh. I think I did it too fast, but I'm going to keep things stable at 8-8.5 range. Hopefully the irritated corals can recover.

Coralline algae is growing even faster than before. Not sure what caused its growth to surge. Not getting much of other types of algae growth. I do have some hair algae growing in the sump. Wish it would grow in the DT for the yellow tang to eat.

I've started using the recommended dose of GFO to bring PO4 down to <.1ppm. NO3 still at 5ppm. Would like to get to a point where PO4 is under .1ppm and NO3 hovers around 5ppm. Not really gonna chase either numbers. Will just employ different control methods as needed to keep things stable.

Aiptasia is mostly gone now. The berghia nudis did an awesome job.

Other than standard maintenance items and picking up after the melanurus, I'm going to try to ignore the tank and let it go on cruise control. Need to stop meddling. Would be a good time to finally solder the components to my new control board.

 

[erk]

Noticed zoas are beginning to reach for the light, so I increased the photo period by an hour. Also increased the white channel by 5%. Took 2-3 weeks for them to adapt. I'll wait another week or two before I adjust the lighting again.

 

[erk]

Euroquatics announced on FB that they are closing shop. They marked down the Angel A1 Pro to $125 so I took the opportunity to purchase two of them. They are supposedly good lights from the reviews I could find. I can use them for a future tank upgrade.

 

[erk]

I decided to upgrade the media reactor from the small half size to a 10 inch. I tried going to BRS for it, but I found a new 10" reactor for half the price. It is the same model as the BRS deluxe. I found media chambers off Amazon for about $10 and they use screw tops instead of those difficult to open friction fit ones.

 

[erk]

Well, it's been over a week and the acropora I added are still alive with active growth tips and no recession. Not much PE during the day, but tons at night. Tissue still looks good. Montipora hate my tank for some reason. They aren't thriving. Just in a constant slow decline. I'm hoping by holding things stable they will recover.

Apogee par sensor was delivered. I took some measurements with it. Since my light is more blue now and the sensor is calibrated to SQ-110, I'm multiplying by 1.5. With this scale factor I get about 250 at the top of the rocks and 150 at the sand.

I got the Angel A1 Pro fixtures. They are much larger than I expected and heavy. But they look good. Going to power them on and verify they work correctly.

PO4 at .187ppm. Need to get this under .1ppm. I hate running GFO, but I gotta do what works.

I replaced my RODI holding container. I was using a 55gal blue drum that I cut the top off. I used the cutoff top as a lid, but bugs were still getting in. Found a large number of dead bugs in the bottom. I don't know if this is the reason for my persistent NO3 and PO4. Bought a 65 gal water storage tank from Tractor Supply. Need to rinse it out and waiting for the fittings, i.e. gate valve etc.

I need to take some pictures of the tank.

 

[erk]

Here we go again. Two part consumption is on the rise. I've doubled the amount I dose per day from 12mL to 24mL in 4 days. This is a good and bad thing. Corals are growing, but I'm always playing catch up. When I started at 12mL I was at 8.7dKH. I aim for 8-8.5. I'm now at 8.1dKH. Hopefully I can keep up and keep parameters stable so I don't anger the corals again.

 

[erk]

Corals weren't looking good today when I got home. Really haven't been too great for awhile now. Just barely living it seems. Decided to do a full suite of tests and I'm surprised. Calcium is at 405 ppm per Hanna. I use a lab grade pipette for the Hanna Calcium tester because the one provided sucks. I know its not alk as I've kept it stable between 8 and 8.5 dKH for about a month. Like to keep calcium over 450 ppm. Good part is things are growing I guess.

 

[living_tribunal]

Well, it's about time I created a tank thread for my aquarium. I've been apprehensive about posting anything as I was waiting for the tank to age a bit. Then I ran into some issues and now, finally, I am ready to share my reef tank.

A little about myself:

I am a Mechanical Engineer working on my graduate degree in Electrical Engineering. I work for a defense contractor in the DFW area. I'm engaged married to a beautiful woman who is also my best friend. She doesn't mind my obsession with aquariums as long as I keep the mess to a minimum.

Initial Design:

What I wanted was a tank without a center brace, but with a frame. I would say that the rimless aquariums scare me a bit and the eurobrace aquariums are expensive and larger than I have room for. Therefore I settled on the 40 breeder. For the sump, I wanted something larger than the DT and with enormous room for an unlit refugium. I was able to snag a standard 55 gal for free and converted it into a sump.

Below are images from Creo 2 of the full assembly.



Filtration:

When I first started this hobby 4 years ago, I went the conventional route of running carbon, GFO, lit refugium, etc. I eventually learned other methods that allowed me to utilize less equipment, and I used that knowledge in designing this aquarium.
First, the only "reactor" I run is a zeovit reactor stuff with Brightwell zeolites. This isn't for the zeovit method, but because it is a safe haven for bacterial growth. Second, I run a large skimmer. It is the PM CV626 venturi skimmer. I love it for the tall reaction chamber. Consistently pulls out waste material. Third, I dose vodka. I used to dose vinegar, but I was dosing too much to meet the demands of my tank. I love fat healthy fish. And last, I have ~20 gal refugium filled with rock. Tons of seasoned rock from my first tank that ran for 2 years that I transferred to a holding tub and continued to keep running. There is so much rock, it can't even all fit underwater.

With this method, I can keep nitrate and phosphate nearly undetectable. Actually, as I found out later, I have to continuously feed the tank else my nutrients drop too low and I start losing corals.

Lighting:

I purchased an 8 bulb T5 grow fixture from Amazon and retro fitted it with two Lumia 5.2s. I suspend the fixture about 10 inches above the water. At the water surface, this gives me about 500 par with ~250-300 par at the top of the rock my SPS sit. The sand bed ranges from 50 par to 150 par. This gives me tons of places to arrange corals depending on light requirements.

Flow:

I use a Gyre xf150 for flow in the display. It pulses every 10 sec at about 40% power. I recently purchased a TI BLDC motor controller that allows 5V PWM control. I plan to use this to control the Gyre and generate more natural flow patterns.

Controller:

My own design. A Raspberry Pi 3 communicating over serial to an Arduino Uno. Took this route because I had analog sensors and didn't want to buy new digital sensors. Was cheaper to develop my own ASCII serial communication between the two boards. I wrote the main controller code in Python and it pulls data thru various APIs. I use this to simulate cloud cover and moon phase, and will eventually use it for tidal info and to vary dawn/dusk times.

Equipment List:

Sicce 3.0 return pump
Vertex 1.5L Zeovit Reactor The pump died and the body cracked
PM CV626 Venturi Skimmer powered by a pump I can't remember the name of, ;Facepalm
Bubble Magus Curve 7
Gyre xf150
2 Tunze 6055 controlled via Tunze 7097
Two Eheim Heaters
Couple Hydor Koralia nano powerheads for sump chamber circulation
Single Sicce powerhead. All the Koralia pumps died on me
BRS mini reactor for carbon and GFO when needed. Upgrading to a full 10" housing. Carbon for the leathers.
Lots of DIY other stuff. I can explain more in detail if there are any questions.
Light is a DIY hybrid using an Amazon 8 bulb T5 fixture and 2 Lumia 5.2 pucks. I removed the 2 center bulbs and installed the Lumia pucks in their place.
Controller is a custom RPi design. Taking it to the next level with a custom made CCA motherboard for the RPi.

I’m a software developer in the DFW. Nice to meet someone on here who knows the heat.

Amazing tank & photography btw...

 

[erk]

I’m a software developer in the DFW. Nice to meet someone on here who knows the heat.

Glad to see another DFW native on here. Can't wait for the heat to finally subside. Tank isn't overheating, but AC runs all day just to keep the house at 76F!!!! :mad:

Amazing tank & photography btw...

Thank you! Wish the tank was looking better so I could take more pictures. Maybe if I can get this calcium back up things will make a quick comeback.

 

[living_tribunal]

Glad to see another DFW native on here. Can't wait for the heat to finally subside. Tank isn't overheating, but AC runs all day just to keep the house at 76F!!!! :mad:



Thank you! Wish the tank was looking better so I could take more pictures. Maybe if I can get this calcium back up things will make a quick comeback.

My txu bill isn’t for the faint of heart, will be exhilarated to walk outside once we hit a stable mid-90s.

It’s interesting how you incorporated your mechanical engineering background into this tank build. It’s crazy to see how people are integrating raspberry pi setups for such a diverse array of things.

Do you have the repo links/api docs for the python cloud cover library? Once I get my knees wet with this first tank build I’m doing this weekend, I’d like to program something similar.

 

[erk]

My txu bill isn’t for the faint of heart, will be exhilarated to walk outside once we hit a stable mid-90s.

It’s interesting how you incorporated your mechanical engineering background into this tank build. It’s crazy to see how people are incorporating raspberry pi setups for such a diverse array of things.

Do you have the repo links/api docs for the python cloud cover library? Once I get my knees wet with this first tank build I’m doing this weekend, I’d like to program something similar.

I'm going to totally redo the software since the original script is not great. It gets the job done, but leaves a lot for reliability and robustness. My biggest issue I've run into is the Pyowm/Astral libraries and internet connectivity. I thought if I just had the script ignore the errors they throw when the internet goes out I'd be okay, but instead the whole program locks up waiting for a response from the servers regardless. Future I'll put these programs on a separate thread and make some effort to avoid these kinds of issues. Like have it go into a standby mode or something along those lines. I've got ideas for speeding up the script execution and separating critical and noncritical tasks in different threads to avoid issues I've had in the past. Will also make better use of modules so my main script is cleaner.

Below are the only unique libraries I use. Everything else are just standard libraries. If you want a copy of my python script, I can send it. Just don't laugh at how poorly it is written . Was my first python script.

PyQt5 (This is for the GUI. I used QT Designer to create the GUI then converted it to Python 3 using PyQt)
pyowm (Gives me weather data. https://pyowm.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)
Astral (Moon phases. https://astral.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)

My future RPi controller will be quite different. New GUI as seen a few posts back. Custom PCB motherboard to route I/Os. 16 PWM channels and no Arduino. Going to design a case to hold everything connected to the controller and add a 7 inch touch screen display. Just need time to solder the components to the PCB then I can start software development.

 

[living_tribunal]

I'm going to totally redo the software since the original script is not great. It gets the job done, but leaves a lot for reliability and robustness. My biggest issue I've run into is the Pyowm/Astral libraries and internet connectivity. I thought if I just had the script ignore the errors they throw when the internet goes out I'd be okay, but instead the whole program locks up waiting for a response from the servers regardless. Future I'll put these programs on a separate thread and make some effort to avoid these kinds of issues. Like have it go into a standby mode or something along those lines. I've got ideas for speeding up the script execution and separating critical and noncritical tasks in different threads to avoid issues I've had in the past. Will also make better use of modules so my main script is cleaner.

Below are the only unique libraries I use. Everything else are just standard libraries. If you want a copy of my python script, I can send it. Just don't laugh at how poorly it is written . Was my first python script.

PyQt5 (This is for the GUI. I used QT Designer to create the GUI then converted it to Python 3 using PyQt)
pyowm (Gives me weather data. https://pyowm.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)
Astral (Moon phases. https://astral.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)

My future RPi controller will be quite different. New GUI as seen a few posts back. Custom PCB motherboard to route I/Os. 16 PWM channels and no Arduino. Going to design a case to hold everything connected to the controller and add a 7 inch touch screen display. Just need time to solder the components to the PCB then I can start software development.

Ah, non-critical exceptions ending server callbacks/programs can be a pain with python at times. It’s even worse when libraries throw out weird exceptions you wouldn’t think to catch.

I encountered similar situations when I used to create a bunch of python chatbots. I had to create a unique server setup (was using a super cheap heroku server) where async workers were split and would refresh every few minutes ensuring the script would always continue to run. If I remember correctly it was named “gunicorn”, or something similar.

That’s excellent you picked up the language however in pursuit of this project!

I’d love to see your script and maybe dust off the python cob webs to see if I can help. Also, thanks for the docs, I’ll check them out.

I don’t want to clog your thread here, let me see if there is a follow feature and I can shoot you a dm.

 

[erk]

I corrected the calcium over the course of two days and that naturally brought the alkalinity down. Should've realized this change would upset the corals, but didn't think about it. Now the alk went from 8.1 to 9 in a days. SPS are very upset now. Burnt tips and thin skin. Hoping they recover once I get the alk back down below 8.5.

 

[erk]

Lubbock's wrasse decided to jump out of the tank tonight. Took the top off to feed frozen food and while I was away defrosting the food he jumped. Almost stepped on him when I walked back into the room. I held him in the tank until he was strong enough to swim on his own. He's swimming around like nothing happened now. He didn't jump because he was spooked. He likes to chase the other fish, specifically the flasher wrasse during dusk. Pretty sure he went full speed at the flasher and ended up out of the tank. Maybe he will learn from this experience.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Lubbock's wrasse decided to jump out of the tank tonight. Took the top off to feed frozen food and while I was away defrosting the food he jumped. Almost stepped on him when I walked back into the room. I held him in the tank until he was strong enough to swim on his own. He's swimming around like nothing happened now. He didn't jump because he was spooked. He likes to chase the other fish, specifically the flasher wrasse during dusk. Pretty sure he went full speed at the flasher and ended up out of the tank. Maybe he will learn from this experience.

Nice save!!!!
How are the SPS doing?