Greybeard's Wide, Shallow Peninsula

[Greybeard]

We need a pic of the counter top please, that is a beautiful part of this build!

Best I can do... Hard to photograph.

 

[najer]

Best I can do... Hard to photograph.

Thanks, I love that.

 

[Greybeard]

Thanks, I love that.

Decorative paint courtesy of my daughter, Kaitlyn. She's living in Tuscon these days, still doing artwork of various types.

She's got a technique using wood stain that seems to be attracting a following... Here's a commission she did recently.

Katy Gillie, Artist and DIYer

Katy Gillie, Artist and DIYer, Tucson, Arizona. 479 likes. Talented artist with a passion for wood staining and painting! Contact me for a quote today!

www.facebook.com

 

[Greybeard]

Tank update... been a while.

Tank is maturing at a normal rate. Another 2 months, and we'll pass the 1 year mark <HURRAY!>

About a week ago, I got an alarm from my Apex, Calcium over 600. Huh?

Manual testing shows calcium is still where it's usually at, about 460. Neptune is also showing my Alkalinity at over 11, when it normally runs about 9.5. A manual test shows that the tank is still where it's always been.

Something up with my Trident. I've had it for 10 months, never had any issue with it, though I've read some horror stories. Ok. Change the reagents, do a reset and prime, double check intake and outlet tubes to make sure they're clear... I'm not seeing anything.

Time to contact Neptune. I did so via email. Over the next 3 days, I exchanged information, photos, videos, etc. with Neptune's representative. Not a fast process... took me a good deal of time, but honestly, I have a much greater understanding of how the Trident works now... I'm happy to have had the experience. Final result, something's plugged, they need to service the unit.

Fine. They'll cross ship, as long as the unit is under a year old (10 months), and I have an original invoice... thanks to BRS's web site allowing you to review past purchase, I do. They do want a credit card deposit... no big deal, but I'm not going to put a credit card number in an unencrypted email... we're not at that point yet, but hopefully, they'll have an acceptable solution.

Anyway, I'll post back the end results. So far, I'm not unhappy with Neptune's support, though I will say, it's taken a lot of my time. Happily, I have the time to give at the moment... and doing without the Trident isn't a big deal, so there's no real rush... not like it's a heater or return pump.

 

[Greybeard]

Update on my Neptune Trident. After spending a week troubleshooting, they cross shipped me another unit. I plugged that one in on Monday, it's still not working. Test A fails every time. Appears to be a bad unit, straight from the factory. Once again, going through basically the EXACT SAME troubleshooting that I did the first go around, taking just as long to do. Filming a 40 minute test session and uploading that video so they can view it... who has time for this stuff?

Argh.

 

[minus9]

Update on my Neptune Trident. After spending a week troubleshooting, they cross shipped me another unit. I plugged that one in on Monday, it's still not working. Test A fails every time. Appears to be a bad unit, straight from the factory. Once again, going through basically the EXACT SAME troubleshooting that I did the first go around, taking just as long to do. Filming a 40 minute test session and uploading that video so they can view it... who has time for this stuff?

Argh.

That's crazy! Hopefully they figure it out?

 

[Greybeard]

Tank update...

Trident: Took a week to get a replacement unit, and another week to get it working. Once it was running, and calibrated, I realized that my DOS depends on the Trident. Yeah, I knew that, but wasn't thinking... Figured it'd keep dosing at current levels. It didn't. Hasn't dosed any Alk or Calc in weeks.

So... my Alkalinity fell to 7.7 Calcium is still reasonable, but my normal Alk is 9.5. Seriously low... And, I'm loosing corals. Had it figured out before I started noticing tissue loss, but it's certainly happening. I've lost a couple of stix, and some of my LPS are not looking good.

Bringing Alk back up slowly.. Obviously, I'm now dosing Calc and Alk without relying on the Trident. I don't make the same mistake twice.

Sigh.

Ok, so one of my long term issues has been pH. It's not horrible, but lower than I'd like. Tried a CO2 media on the air intake, and, yeah, it kinda works, but it's exhausted SO FAST... Not a good long term solution to me.

So.. thinking old school... How 'bout Kalkwasser? Raises pH, and helps reduce the need for Kalk and Alk dosing. Why not?

Picked up a small dosing reservoir off of Amazon. Drilled it for a float valve and a float switch. Plumbed the float valve so that it's got a constant water source, and wired the float switch to turn off the main RO/DI line at the electric ball valve (and send me an alarm). Picked up a BRS 1.1ml dosing pump, plugged it into the Apex, and set it to run for one minute every hour. Between the reservoir and the tank, an Avast marine kalk stirrer. Should give me a nice, stable source of saturated Kalkwasser. The 1.1ml doser is pretty close to what it's supposed to be. A 5 minute test run resulted in 5.5ml. Good enough for me. I halved my Calc and Alk dosing levels, and we'll watch and adjust as needed.

 

[Greybeard]

New addition

The elegance... not the other photo bombers That blue throat wrass is always popping up in my photos.

Photo really doesn't do the elegance justice. Beautiful coral.

 

[tripdad]

Tank looks good. Still doing the Zeo?

 

[Greybeard]

Tank looks good. Still doing the Zeo?

Thanks

Funny you should ask.

I'm slowly phasing it out. I REALLY like the level of control that Zeo gives you. Want higher or lower nutrients? You can virtually dial them up and down, depending on your dosing. It's an awesome system, really.

It's also time consuming, and expensive, and... unnecessary.

I'm returning to macro (Skimz 157 Macro reactor) for nutrient export. As controllable as Zeo? Nope, but man, it's a lot cheaper, and if I miss a week, no big deal. When I miss a few days on Zeo, my tank tells me, in no uncertain terms, that I'm screwing up. There are times when I get lazy, leave for a few days, whatever... it happens. My Zeo tank DOES NOT like that. Take a week off with a macro algae nutrient export system? Who cares.

There are a few of these blue bottles I'm quite likely to keep using, but I've already retired my zeolite rock reactor. Too much of a pain to maintain, and honestly, it's just not that hard to duplicate the results using other methods.

 

[tripdad]

Thanks for the honest response/opinion. I've toyed with the idea for years but haven't taken the plunge. I am always looking for better success so have considered it as it has a long track record. So far I've always used the KISS method.

 

[Greybeard]

Just a couple of shots this morning...

 

[Colt13]

how are you liking the starboard bare bottom? i have a few questions about it: did it float? did you silicone it down or let the rocks push it down? and do you ever scrape/clean it? how much of a border is there between the glass (if you didnt silicone it)?

 

[Greybeard]

how are you liking the starboard bare bottom? i have a few questions about it: did it float? did you silicone it down or let the rocks push it down? and do you ever scrape/clean it? how much of a border is there between the glass (if you didnt silicone it)?

I like it. It's not attached, no silicone. When I set the tank up, I cut the sheet to fit, edge gap is maybe an eighth of an inch. I placed it in a dry tank, set my rockwork, and then filled the tank. It's never moved or given me any trouble. I don't scrape it... fairly easy to see in the above photos the condition it's in. Spotted with encrusting coraline algaes, especially where flow is less. It's been more covered, my urchin, and perhaps some of the snails appear to be eating the encrusting algaes as fast as they can form.

If I were to do it again, I might get a more rough or textured surfaced plastic. The stuff I got is pretty smooth, and I have trouble keeping lighter frags and such from sliding around from the flow. Aside from that? Yeah, I'm very happy with it.

 

[Greybeard]

A before and after photo...

First, same pic as above, one giant rainbow bubble tip...

And... a day later, two medium sized rainbow bubble tip anemones

 

[najer]

A before and after photo...

First, same pic as above, one giant rainbow bubble tip...

And... a day later, two medium sized rainbow bubble tip anemones

You playing them Barry White?!

 

[Zionas]

Would love an update!

 

[Zionas]

So how are the Genicanthus angels for you? Wow you say they’re easy to keep and feed and don’t get diseases easily?

 

[Greybeard]

So how are the Genicanthus angels for you? Wow you say they’re easy to keep and feed and don’t get diseases easily?

IMHO, Genicanthus angels are far under appreciated in reef tanks. They are truly 'reef safe'... planktovores. I've never seen one interested in a coral of any sort. Most any quality 'reef mix' foods will keep their dietary needs well met (I feed Rod's, LRS, PE Mysis). They do get fairly large, but to me, that's not a bad thing... I've always liked larger fishes. Peaceful, curious, full of personality... just excellent members of a reef community.

Now... do they have the same bright, dramatic colors and patterns as some of the other angels? Nope. If you're wanting bright and flashy, these aren't the fish for you. That doesn't detract from them to me. They may be a bit more subtle about it, but they're very beautiful, in their own quiet way.

Disease? Don't know that they are any more or less likely to get a disease or infection than any other fish. Mine are healthy and happy, but I don't buy fishes online... these both came through a trusted local fish store, which has since closed.

I have a female Spotbreast and a female Lamark's. They're happily living, and growing, in my little 140g tank, and I'm very happy to have them.

 

[Zionas]

Did the store close because of Covid? I also try not to buy fish online unless I really have to. Glad they’re doing well for you. Would you expect the Spotbreast to reach the full 7” and Lamarck’s to the full 9-10”? Maybe even turn male?

Would love some full tank shots. Really enjoy your system, your larger fishes are really beautiful. I agree. This genus really needs a lot more love.

I also remember you were looking into a Pyramid Butterfly.

Have you paired up the Clown again?

Hope everytjing’s Doing well.