KJoFan's SCA 150g Build
- Build Thread
- Thread starter KJoFan
- Start date
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
KJoFan
Valuable Member
Not that many folks watch this, understandably but...I'm starting to see good color, encrusting and growth in my sps frags. I have probably 40+ frags, that are all relatively small but even so, as I'm starting to see growth I thought I'd start to see alk take a dive, however, it has been staying steady without any dosing or water changes so I'm a little stumped. When should I start seeing a decrease in alk?
Brew12
Electrical Gru
It's great things are progressing so well!
You will see a drop in alk when the alk consumption exceeds the accuracy of your alk test kit.
OP
OP
KJoFan
Valuable Member
I guess that's one way to look at it I hadn't really thought of. I guess I was expecting to see some decrease but those small frags probably don't suck up as much alk as I think. Coralline is finally starting to take off on the back glass and pumps as well, so it's coming along. Whether coralline is a blessing or a curse is always a debatable topic.
I at least take it as a sign of the system maturing.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
If you had those 40 frags in a 40B tank you would notice the decrease. With your much larger water volume it is acting as a buffer. This is the stability benefit of larger tanks in action.
Or, it is food for a long spine urchin!Whether coralline is a blessing or a curse is always a debatable topic.
OP
OP
KJoFan
Valuable Member
Corals are looking really nice,
Fish are doing well. Seems I’ve only got two of the anthias left after adding 6 of them. Two died for sure and the other two just vanished.
I added a nice Copperband a couple weeks ago I got from someone taking their tank down.
Today the Potter’s Angel graduated from QT to the display.
OP
OP
KJoFan
Valuable Member
For the sps crowd.
Tiny nubs but might end up promising...
Tricolor?
This milli has had a hard time but could be beautiful.
Not sure what color this is supposed to be. I’m guessing the more red/middle color.
Tiny nubs but might end up promising...
Tricolor?
This milli has had a hard time but could be beautiful.
Not sure what color this is supposed to be. I’m guessing the more red/middle color.
OP
OP
KJoFan
Valuable Member
Update time:
I am still working on plumbing in the 60g to the main system. Though I haven't actually worked on it in awhile. Plumbing isn't my favorite thing but it must be done. It's all drawn out and pieces are purchased, just need to do the actual assembly. Sigh. Someday.
On another note, sps were starting to take off, get good color, encrust, grow. Best success I've had to date. Then, I noticed some bite marks here and there. Started basting the corals and sure enough, AEFW were present. Since I have numerous frags starting to encrust I didn't want to remove everything for dipping, so I opted for UWC's new in tank treatment, Purge. It requires 4 doses over the course of a month. I only made it to two doses and as of tonight 90% of my sps are toast. The other 10% will be within the next couple days I'm sure. Z & Ps are mostly closed up and euphyllia aren't looking as good as they should. So...I guess it's working if you consider completely removing the food source as a success.
I reached out to Jeff at UWC and we discussed the system and nothing jumped out as a conflict, but the proof is undeniable, it didn't work out for me. This isn't a bashing of the product, as I've read reports of it working well for some folks. Bummer that it did such damage for me though.
Maybe this should just be an LPS/softie tank.... I skipped the third dose last night (no point anymore) and things are still looking sickly overall, so I started some carbon tonight and hopefully that will help perk things up.
This hobby sucks sometimes.
I am still working on plumbing in the 60g to the main system. Though I haven't actually worked on it in awhile. Plumbing isn't my favorite thing but it must be done. It's all drawn out and pieces are purchased, just need to do the actual assembly. Sigh. Someday.
On another note, sps were starting to take off, get good color, encrust, grow. Best success I've had to date. Then, I noticed some bite marks here and there. Started basting the corals and sure enough, AEFW were present. Since I have numerous frags starting to encrust I didn't want to remove everything for dipping, so I opted for UWC's new in tank treatment, Purge. It requires 4 doses over the course of a month. I only made it to two doses and as of tonight 90% of my sps are toast. The other 10% will be within the next couple days I'm sure. Z & Ps are mostly closed up and euphyllia aren't looking as good as they should. So...I guess it's working if you consider completely removing the food source as a success.
I reached out to Jeff at UWC and we discussed the system and nothing jumped out as a conflict, but the proof is undeniable, it didn't work out for me. This isn't a bashing of the product, as I've read reports of it working well for some folks. Bummer that it did such damage for me though.
Maybe this should just be an LPS/softie tank.... I skipped the third dose last night (no point anymore) and things are still looking sickly overall, so I started some carbon tonight and hopefully that will help perk things up.
This hobby sucks sometimes.
OP
OP
KJoFan
Valuable Member
Decided to take some nitrate and phosphate readings today just to see where I’m at. The tank looks dingy but nutrients have always been historically low.
NO3 - 0.5
PO4 - .01
But, the tank looks like this:
So, not really sure what, if anything to do. I was considering reducing fuge lighting time to increase nutrients and hopefully bring lps and softies around a bit more, but based on the algae growth that doesn’t necessarily seem wise either.
So, were it you would you do nothing or do something?
NO3 - 0.5
PO4 - .01
But, the tank looks like this:
So, not really sure what, if anything to do. I was considering reducing fuge lighting time to increase nutrients and hopefully bring lps and softies around a bit more, but based on the algae growth that doesn’t necessarily seem wise either.
So, were it you would you do nothing or do something?
OP
OP
KJoFan
Valuable Member
Slowly coming around except for some algae here and there and discoloration on the sand. Tank will hit the 11 month mark on Jan 7th.
Need to spend some quality time with the magic eraser to get that hardened green haze off the glass.
I lost my Copperband along the way a few weeks back and am down to one anthias which doesn’t look great.
I’m thinking I’ll wait for the 1 year mark before trying to add back sps as that seems to be the magic benchmark and will have me at 3+ months acro free to be sure pests are gone. At least that’s the hope.
Need to spend some quality time with the magic eraser to get that hardened green haze off the glass.
I lost my Copperband along the way a few weeks back and am down to one anthias which doesn’t look great.
I’m thinking I’ll wait for the 1 year mark before trying to add back sps as that seems to be the magic benchmark and will have me at 3+ months acro free to be sure pests are gone. At least that’s the hope.
OP
OP
KJoFan
Valuable Member
Like some others have posted I did a little maintenance on the tank today. I've been getting some hair algae and discoloration (another algae?) on the sand so I was guessing nutrients were starting to appear, but I haven't tested in a month so...
LPS and softies are all coming around nicely. I rearranged some of the rockwork last week during a water change, but may tinker a bit more. Maybe it'll be time to try out some sps again soon??
I pared down my chaeto. I've always gott trouble with it getting a mat on top and detritus in it. I don't want or need to increase flow through the sump overall, and since I've got the Triton style sump, I don't know that I could achieve enough flow with my current pump to really get the chaeto moving. So, I added a small powerhead to push back against the flow of the sump which so far is keeping the chaeto moving. We'll see if it keeps it up as the chaeto grows. Maybe I also shouldn't let the chaeto nearly fill the entire fuge area before I thin it...
Anyway, just documenting for my own sake mostly. My final anthias died this past week. I need to think about some new fish to add.
Current fish list:
Snowflake clown pair
Potter's angel
Potter's wrasse
Hippo Tang
Pintail wrasse
Current readings of the parameters I tested:
NO3 - 2.0
PO4 - .04
Alk - 7.7
I should test Ca and Mg and work on getting those all in line where I want them before I start back with sps, so that when I move back up to dosing again, parameters will be ready to go.
LPS and softies are all coming around nicely. I rearranged some of the rockwork last week during a water change, but may tinker a bit more. Maybe it'll be time to try out some sps again soon??
I pared down my chaeto. I've always gott trouble with it getting a mat on top and detritus in it. I don't want or need to increase flow through the sump overall, and since I've got the Triton style sump, I don't know that I could achieve enough flow with my current pump to really get the chaeto moving. So, I added a small powerhead to push back against the flow of the sump which so far is keeping the chaeto moving. We'll see if it keeps it up as the chaeto grows. Maybe I also shouldn't let the chaeto nearly fill the entire fuge area before I thin it...
Anyway, just documenting for my own sake mostly. My final anthias died this past week. I need to think about some new fish to add.
Current fish list:
Snowflake clown pair
Potter's angel
Potter's wrasse
Hippo Tang
Pintail wrasse
Current readings of the parameters I tested:
NO3 - 2.0
PO4 - .04
Alk - 7.7
I should test Ca and Mg and work on getting those all in line where I want them before I start back with sps, so that when I move back up to dosing again, parameters will be ready to go.
OP
OP
KJoFan
Valuable Member
Current state of things:
I cleaned as much GHA and detritus out of the sump as I could and will see how it goes. With the added tank flow through the sump has increased.
I also got my doser back in business. So I can start dosing again.
I want to hook up a reactor to run some carbon to try to clear up the water a bit. That will be for another day.
I’m also contemplating adding a reactor with CO2 absorbing media to help boost pH, but I’m not sure on that just yet. PH tends to hover around 7.8 give or take.
I cleaned as much GHA and detritus out of the sump as I could and will see how it goes. With the added tank flow through the sump has increased.
I also got my doser back in business. So I can start dosing again.
I want to hook up a reactor to run some carbon to try to clear up the water a bit. That will be for another day.
I’m also contemplating adding a reactor with CO2 absorbing media to help boost pH, but I’m not sure on that just yet. PH tends to hover around 7.8 give or take.
OP
OP
KJoFan
Valuable Member
To expand a bit on the sump situation. I created this thread:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/not-happy-with-my-trigger-triton44.560286/
Basically, I'm not all that happy with the inability to implement mechanical filtration with the original Triton sump from Trigger, but I also decided it was more work than I wanted to put forth in switching out sumps, when in the end this one does the job. So, I cleaned it out the best I could yesterday and tossed the chaeto/GHA that was the worst. I've still got a ball of the two mixed in the sump, but whatever, it'll suck up nutrients just the same.
As long as detritus can mostly stay in the sump in the end instead of circulating throughout the system I can't complain too much.
On another note, I don't have a huge algae issue in the display, but there is some here and there. I'm thinking of getting a Foxface to help control that. I've had one in the past and it was always a pretty good citizen.
I've also got a handful of some pretty big aiptasia in there I'm unsure what to do with. There's no good solution. I don't feel I want to spend $100 on a handful of berghia nudibranchs and hope they find the aiptasia and eat them, but...what other solution is there? Ugh, always something to deal with.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/not-happy-with-my-trigger-triton44.560286/
Basically, I'm not all that happy with the inability to implement mechanical filtration with the original Triton sump from Trigger, but I also decided it was more work than I wanted to put forth in switching out sumps, when in the end this one does the job. So, I cleaned it out the best I could yesterday and tossed the chaeto/GHA that was the worst. I've still got a ball of the two mixed in the sump, but whatever, it'll suck up nutrients just the same.
As long as detritus can mostly stay in the sump in the end instead of circulating throughout the system I can't complain too much.
On another note, I don't have a huge algae issue in the display, but there is some here and there. I'm thinking of getting a Foxface to help control that. I've had one in the past and it was always a pretty good citizen.
I've also got a handful of some pretty big aiptasia in there I'm unsure what to do with. There's no good solution. I don't feel I want to spend $100 on a handful of berghia nudibranchs and hope they find the aiptasia and eat them, but...what other solution is there? Ugh, always something to deal with.
Similar threads
