Hydrored's 300 Glass Cages Build

[drawman]

That’s key, there’s nothing to ramp up. The bacteria are full on existing surfaces. If anything is in doubt based on prior fails seen, we would need to add more surface area not coax more bacteria (I have never seen a fail logged before for nitrification rates among stacks of live rock)

Bacteria are never limiting in any aspect of bioload carry, there are no known instances of live rock unable to keep up with a bioload in a display reef I’ve seen. Bacteria do not react to the increased bioload by increasing in numbers, there’s no space for them.


Stacking on top of current bacteria doesn’t increase surface area, only new surfaces to attach can provide the required attachment space and exposure to wastewater. Dr. Tim has discussed that the mechanism used is current bacteria instantly begin processing more waste should no extra surface area be given.

Practically speaking you may be right. I've never tested dropping in that many fish at once (or anything proportional to it). I would say from a biofilm perspective it's more intricate than what you're saying though. Even though the surfaces external and internal are covered with a biofilm (stacked bacteria), adding different inputs such as ammonia could cause a microbial shift within the biofilm (ie increasing the numbers of nitrifying bacteria).

Either way it will be interesting to see how it goes @Hydrored

 

[sdreef]

This is a Milli that I can not do it any justice concerning it’s true colors with a camera, turning into one of my favorites

And another random no namer that has really taken off the last 4 months growing insanely fast-

I’m incapable of capturing purple and pinks in photos

Are you using a phone? What kind? For the iphone, you can try editing the white balance and making the temperature warmer and slightly adjusting the tint. That will often get you much closer color rendition. Also you may be able to adjust your lights to a whiter a setting for photos. May not totally solve the colors, but that's where I would start. Did you ever end up buying a a new camera?

@brandon429 @rtparty @sdreef

any of you have an idea of of what kind of fish count I could add at once? I have an opportunity to do a buy out but it’s about 6 pretty large tangs along with about 15 smaller fish. Issue is I would have to add them all at once.

Even if the tank can handle it I would have to wonder if I’m going to deal with a blood bath.

It’s an opportunity to add the bio load the tank really needs, with 12 fish in my 300 I have to overfeed to get nitrates

My opinion is your tank could handle the quantity of bioload. The most important question for me is if you like the fish and want to add them. If yes, then it's doable.

It's very likely the existing purple tang will not respond favorably to the other zebrasomas. You could try to move him out of the tank for a couple days and give the others a chance to settle in before adding him back. Or with adding four zebrasomas at once, it may be enough to divert his attention. Likely is going to require some attention to getting everyone acclimated and coexisting.

Regarding the disease aspect of it, your assessment is spot on. Ich will be a risk. I can tell you I haven't seen ich in my system for a long time. But, I know it is in there. I have recently been adding QT'd fish, just to avoid velvet and wiping out the tank.

Well, I normally do not and do not plan to add all of them, I’m also removing my vlamingi that is probably worth 6 fish for bio load. I’m not sure the sweet spot but 12 certainly isn’t enough in a 300 and no idea if 30 is too many

Depending how large the tangs are, they can add up bioload fast. I had to count my fish. It's possible I have pushed it a bit with 50, but many of them are smaller (cardinals, firefish, pipefish, dragonettes) and don't contribute much in terms of bioload. I just reset with most of the tangs as they grew fast and were being punks with a new copper band butterfly.

My opinion is add the fish if you like them and want to add them. If there are other species you prefer, then I would go that route. Your system can handle it.

 

[Hydrored]

Are you using a phone? What kind? For the iphone, you can try editing the white balance and making the temperature warmer and slightly adjusting the tint. That will often get you much closer color rendition. Also you may be able to adjust your lights to a whiter a setting for photos. May not totally solve the colors, but that's where I would start. Did you ever end up buying a a new camera?



My opinion is your tank could handle the quantity of bioload. The most important question for me is if you like the fish and want to add them. If yes, then it's doable.

It's very likely the existing purple tang will not respond favorably to the other zebrasomas. You could try to move him out of the tank for a couple days and give the others a chance to settle in before adding him back. Or with adding four zebrasomas at once, it may be enough to divert his attention. Likely is going to require some attention to getting everyone acclimated and coexisting.

Regarding the disease aspect of it, your assessment is spot on. Ich will be a risk. I can tell you I haven't seen ich in my system for a long time. But, I know it is in there. I have recently been adding QT'd fish, just to avoid velvet and wiping out the tank.



Depending how large the tangs are, they can add up bioload fast. I had to count my fish. It's possible I have pushed it a bit with 50, but many of them are smaller (cardinals, firefish, pipefish, dragonettes) and don't contribute much in terms of bioload. I just reset with most of the tangs as they grew fast and were being punks with a new copper band butterfly.

My opinion is add the fish if you like them and want to add them. If there are other species you prefer, then I would go that route. Your system can handle it.

I ended up getting an EOS RP super cheap but have no clue how to use it, I took what I thought was OK pictures with it but color isn’t right and I have no idea what I’m doing.

The pictures I took of the milli’s are with the latest IPhone Pro, what I struggle with is representing the colors. That Milli is very pink but I can’t capture that and the purple looks very washed out.

Concerning the fish, it’s my least favorite part of the hobby. I keep telling myself that added fish load is the answer to my low nutrient problems and will provide a broader bacteria count with better colors and growth. I don’t have it in me to continue to add one fish at a time, and honestly it takes a ton of effort just to make sure they are accepted or not in my tank. I thought my blonde naso was going to be an issue and the existing fish could care less, I added a rabbit fish and the whole tank was trying to kill it.

 

[sdreef]

I ended up getting an EOS RP super cheap but have no clue how to use it, I took what I thought was OK pictures with it but color isn’t right and I have no idea what I’m doing.

The pictures I took of the milli’s are with the latest IPhone Pro, what I struggle with is representing the colors. That Milli is very pink but I can’t capture that and the purple looks very washed out.

Concerning the fish, it’s my least favorite part of the hobby. I keep telling myself that added fish load is the answer to my low nutrient problems and will provide a broader bacteria count with better colors and growth. I don’t have it in me to continue to add one fish at a time, and honestly it takes a ton of effort just to make sure they are accepted or not in my tank. I thought my blonde naso was going to be an issue and the existing fish could care less, I added a rabbit fish and the whole tank was trying to kill it.

Which lens are you using? I've found a macro lens works best for detail, but not necessary to get well colored images. Here are some general settings you can try. Set camera to manual. ISO to auto, White Balance to auto, shutter speed to 1/100, and set the aperture to the widest setting, i.e. lowest number. Shoot in the RAW file format. Shooting in RAW will allow you to correct exposure and white balance among other things.

I use Adobe lightroom to adjust the white balance, exposure, and reduce any noise after the shot. I then export the file to a jpeg once I'm satisfied with the image. Those settings should get you in the ball park and you can adjust from there. Also if you can make the tank lights white it will help unless you are specifically going for blue/ actinic shots.

I know this is your favorite topic, I'm happy to make your head hurt more any time you want to start playing with the camera and want to start showing off those pink and purples.

 

[Hydrored]

Well ****
Wife and I just got home after being gone since 5:30 am to all my MP’s not producing any flow. Log in to möbius and all have broken link. Rebooted them and started right back up. Watching my pink lemonade melt away before my eyes, others looked stressed. I’ll be removing the MP60’s off of mobius today.

I’m ticked

Here’s what zero flow and 450 par does-

 

[Hydrored]

Some of them actually “greyed out” that’s a first for me-

 

[sdreef]

Some of them actually “greyed out” that’s a first for me-

Wow, I'm trying to understand how that happened.

So if mobius breaks link, then the pumps default to OFF?

 

[Hydrored]

Wow, I'm trying to understand how that happened.

So if mobius breaks link, then the pumps default to OFF?

Well, all I can say is all 4 pumps were flashing red, I logged into the tank and says it can’t connect to retry. I unplugged them all to restart and they immediately came back on. Mobius connected fine to them once rebooted. This reminds me of when I bought the G5’s and they would randomly be on in the middle of the night, möbius couldn’t find the lights until restarted.

Im calling Ecotech in the morning to ask how or why this would ever happen. It was all 4 MP60’s

 

[jmichaelh7]

I have paranoia as it relates to my RODI water, some of the worse water in Texas. I run 2 cation, 2 anion, 2 mixed and replace them all at once. 375 TDS with chloramines :-/

if I wasn’t paranoid I would just replace my cation and call it a day. Only other reefer I know that changes filtration on the same schedule as me is Shane Becker. I’m a bad example to follow unless you enjoy burning 100 dollar bills

Your water is the purest on the forum

 

[sdreef]

Well, all I can say is all 4 pumps were flashing red, I logged into the tank and says it can’t connect to retry. I unplugged them all to restart and they immediately came back on. Mobius connected fine to them once rebooted. This reminds me of when I bought the G5’s and they would randomly be on in the middle of the night, möbius couldn’t find the lights until restarted.

Im calling Ecotech in the morning to ask how or why this would ever happen. It was all 4 MP60’s

I'm curious what they say. I'm trying to think of a scenario where it would preferable for the pumps to default to an OFF setting if the pumps lose connectivity. Perhaps there is something I'm not considering, but seems like one of the most basic programming functions.

Not cool, I hope the corals recover from the stress.

 

[rtparty]

@Hydrored of course this would happen since I'm looking at going back to Vortechs...so can you run them without using Mobius?

I'd 100% prefer that since I couldn't stand Mobius

 

[Hydrored]

I'm curious what they say. I'm trying to think of a scenario where it would preferable for the pumps to default to an OFF setting if the pumps lose connectivity. Perhaps there is something I'm not considering, but seems like one of the most basic programming functions.

Not cool, I hope the corals recover from the stress.

I don’t disagree, stupidity. Looks like my dragon soul that has been with me for years isn’t so happy either.

 

[Hydrored]

@Hydrored of course this would happen since I'm looking at going back to Vortechs...so can you run them without using Mobius?

I'd 100% prefer that since I couldn't stand Mobius

Yes you can, I just removed them from mobius and factory reset them to run as standalone

 

[Hydrored]

Well after researching the only thing I can find for flashing red is a pump disconnect error, but that is all older documentation. There were some old post with people coming home to the same issue with zero flow and a flashing red light. Now, how the hell do I prevent this in the future? I have all these redundancies built into my tank but this one I never thought of.

How the hell does all four go down at once other than a full power outage? Even then I have a whole home generator and multiple notifications setup to even include the generator if it fails to start.

I should have taken a picture but was the last thing on my mind, the amount of micro bubbles covering everything was insane.

Now I don’t actually know if I should do anything like turn the lights down or just leave it to figure itself out? Throw a bag of carbon in? Water change? Tank is also hazy.

 

[mstgkillr]

Well ****
Wife and I just got home after being gone since 5:30 am to all my MP’s not producing any flow. Log in to möbius and all have broken link. Rebooted them and started right back up. Watching my pink lemonade melt away before my eyes, others looked stressed. I’ll be removing the MP60’s off of mobius today.

I’m ticked

Here’s what zero flow and 450 par does-

Thanks for the warning… I’ll be taking my (4) MP60s off Mobius in the next few days.

I’ve been strongly considering a change in wavemakers. I already have two Reefwave 45s on the way, but want to try 2-4 Tunze Stream 3+ as well… got to find them first. Honestly, I hope the Stream 3+ perform well because Tunze is without a doubt the most reliable wavemakers that I’ve used in the last 20 years.

 

[Hydrored]

Thanks for the warning… I’ll be taking my (4) MP60s off Mobius in the next few days.

I’ve been strongly considering a change in wavemakers. I already have two Reefwave 45s on the way, but want to try 2-4 Tunze Stream 3+ as well… got to find them first. Honestly, I hope the Stream 3+ perform well because Tunze is without a doubt the most reliable wavemakers that I’ve used in the last 20 years.

I’ll keep everyone posted on what Ecotech says. I’m not even sure what caused it at this point. Power never went down at all today either. Maybe I’m missing it but it seems Tunze doesn’t work on 3/4 glass? Edit: I guess I have to spend an additional 140.00 for 2 extension magnets, kind of lame IMO

 

[mstgkillr]

I’ll keep everyone posted on what Ecotech says. I’m not even sure what caused it at this point. Power never went down at all today either. Maybe I’m missing it but it seems Tunze doesn’t work on 3/4 glass? Edit: I guess I have to spend an additional 140.00 for 2 extension magnets, kind of lame IMO

You can get the Stream 3+ for $469.99, which will work on 3/4” glass. The regular Stream 3 is $414.99, so only $55/Stream for the stronger magnets. Way cheaper than the MP60s, much less maintenance, lower operating costs (no wet side replacements) increased longevity, increased reliability, etc. If I can adapt these to my tank, and they provide similar flow, I’m sold.

 

[Hydrored]

So ugly but so tempting

AFC150 Flow Cannon Pump - Abyzz

Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.

www.saltwateraquarium.com

lol

 

[Hydrored]

You can get the Stream 3+ for $469.99, which will work on 3/4” glass. The regular Stream 3 is $414.99, so only $55/Stream for the stronger magnets. Way cheaper than the MP60s, much less maintenance, lower operating costs (no wet side replacements) increased longevity, increased reliability, etc. If I can adapt these to my tank, and they provide similar flow, I’m sold.

Seems they are out of stock everywhere. :-(

 

[mstgkillr]

Seems they are out of stock everywhere. :-(

Aquacave had one this morning, so I decided to cancel my order of two. They’re supposed to get more in two weeks.