First saltwater tank, 40 breeder

[KleineVampir]

Well I got a better video of the tank up. Still not the best but it's a heck of a lot better than those first two videos.

 

[KleineVampir]

I put in 4 mils of nopox today. I gotta do something about the algae that's in there, and hopefully it'll give my scrubber a better chance. Also yesterday I reduced the daylight by 2 hours, so there are now 6 hour days and 18 hour nights. So 2 more hours of algae scrubber, and 2 less hours of big old t5 lights.

 

[KleineVampir]

This is basically the project to eliminate water changes on saltwater aquariums. Don't know how long it will take, it's still ongoing! But I believe it will be possible once I get the algae scrubber going.

After this though, I think the plan will turn into a breeding project. I'm pretty sure I'll want to breed bangaii cardinals since they are hard to come by in my area. Not to mention that they are said to be the easiest to breed by far.

Also at this point I really wish I knew why I can't seem to keep snails alive. Sadly nobody knows. I guess I just can't buy inverts until I figure out the problem.

 

[KleineVampir]

I upgraded the flow tonight. Should be about 50% more. From 2 pumps to 3...all supposed to be the same but this last one seems a little weaker.

 

[count krunk]

Glad to see you upgrading the flow, I remember us talking about that a while back.

The rocks still have a long way to go, maturity wise. The fish all look good.

6 hours of light is getting on the small side. I run a 175w MH on a 10g from 1-10pm. Starting with dry rock it has to go through its stages. I don't think decreasing the light cycle will make much of a difference in regards to your algae.

 

[KleineVampir]

I had a mayday situation on my hands today, losing the siphon on the overflow. Dang thing. My system is so dang hodgepodged together. It was a problem with the aqualifter. I fixed it. Not before I got a nice mouthful of my tank water trying to get the siphon started manually. Yummy!

I kinda look forward to the day when I can build what I need from the start rather than slowly adding components one at a time as I see the need to. I mean this is my starter system that I'm learning on. The next system I make will be bigger and better in every way. Still a few things I need to work out though.

 

[KleineVampir]

Also I got my parts labeled to combat some of the frustration with the setup. There have been 8 switches that turn on and off 1 thing each, with the DJ powerstrip. And now they're finally labeled, 1-8 so you know what switch you're flipping!

 

[KleineVampir]

Yesterday I put yet another cleaner shrimp into the tank. It's the never-ending cycle...1 shrimp dies, the other hangs on but gets sad. So I have to buy another one. Hopefully my better dosing practices manage to keep this one from dying so quickly.

 

[KleineVampir]

Just now switching from putting in dry powder to actually having a calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium solution in jugs. I'm yet to do the magnesium but it has solidified so I will have to go mining soon.

I'm thinking about getting something that could drip kalkwasser into the tank. Since it is the solution for both calcium and alkalinity. I used to want to be able to control both independently but now I'm thinking kalkwasser might be the way to go. If anybody knows a good way to drip it into the tank, that would be great! Not sure about putting it in the ATO because sometimes that thing goes off. Also worried about the pump getting crusty.

 

[KleineVampir]

First scrubber harvest today and corresponding video:

 

[KleineVampir]

Lol I'm currently dosing kalkwasser with THIS:

Too funny not to share, even if I kind of hate to admit it! Lol. Cute gecko on the front too!

If the way it works is too messed up I'll have to buy a dosing pump.

 

[KleineVampir]

Eh I just put it into the ATO...while I think about getting a dosing pump.

 

[KleineVampir]

Bought an LED fixture. I'm supposed to replace the bulbs on the old T5 by now but I hate the idea of that. It means that throughout the year, the light degrades and therefore changes. LED's are far superior by my estimation. Usually very expensive too, but I found some pretty affordable ones.

 

[KleineVampir]

Well I did a ton of crap today. Put in the LED, programmed it, cleaned the tank, tested calcium. Calcium levels were lacking. I think I'm going to discontinue the kalkwasser until I can get a dosing pump. I don't think it's worth doing without that. Heck honestly I'm not sure it's worth doing at all! But it probably is if you can get more in at a slow constant rate. I don't think the ATO is putting out enough kalk for it to matter.

 

[KleineVampir]

For anybody wondering how the light is going, I think it's fine. Maybe it isn't mega uber bright but I can't tell the difference (in brightness) between it and the old T5. Also maybe it doesn't have the coolest shimmer of all time but it's not a disco party either.

 

[KleineVampir]

Dare I say things are looking up in this aquarium! The scrubber is really humming, and after I cleaned out the tank a few days ago, that GHA isn't looking so good! Not exactly coming right back in a hurry like it used to. This period of time might represent a change in the tides as it were!

 

[KleineVampir]

Next harvest!

 

[KleineVampir]

I bought a small regal blue tang. I was there, and seeing all the fish at the store made me feel like I needed to try that sweet center-piece fish again. So I got one that I really liked. However I won't be able to keep it for too long since it'll get too big. I'm hoping he can help with the GHA though he will still eat the brine shrimp I feed the other fish.

 

[KleineVampir]

Just as a huge middle finger to GHA, I made the 6 hour moonlight period to be totally green, and dim of course. Hopefully that doesn't bother the fish or anything though.

 

[Nami]

Thanks for videos on the drop1.4 harvest. How do you like it so far?

Is it noisy? Can you get a fistful of algae a week?