My 320 Gallon Build

[tbrown]

My Purple Firefish was a jumper. You've got a screen lid of some sort on the tank, right?

 

[Imrahilwjz]

My Purple Firefish was a jumper. You've got a screen lid of some sort on the tank, right?

I do.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

My Purple Firefish was a jumper. You've got a screen lid of some sort on the tank, right?

The tank came with glass covers.

 

[tbrown]

The tank came with glass covers.

I use the lighting diffuser egg crate for mine but it's still half inch holes which some fish can escape from. There are others that use window screen material (don't use the metal, use fiberglass or synthetic). Glass is good enough but it'll get salt creep and you're going to have to clean it semi frequently.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

For sure. My old 90 gallon setup had a canopy over the top that nothing ever managed to jump out of. I will probably eventually build a cabinet over this but I might switch to one of those items you mentioned in the meantime. The glass is sort of a hassle. Before the 90 gallon I had a 13 gallon and a 5 gallon tank side by side. The 13 gallon had a cover that had just a couple small holes on it but 3 jawfish and 1 spotted mandarin all managed to jump out through those little openings in the middle of the night. The mandarin did it 2 days before I moved the livestock into the 90 gallon system. Go figure.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hey, there, partner; how is everything going? Looks like you have done a great job with the setup. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Hey, there, partner; how is everything going? Looks like you have done a great job with the setup. Thanks for sharing.

I put Triton Detox in a couple of weeks ago or so and added extra carbon afterward. I just sent a an icp test in at the end of last week and received notice this morning that the results are ready. I'll post again later today when I have a chance to check them out.

 

[nuxx]

Looking good

 

[Imrahilwjz]

So here's the progress of the copper and zinc removal

ICP test of Oct-15-2022
Copper 85 µg/l
Zinc 112 µg/l

ICP test of Nov-25-2022

Copper 38 µg/l
Zinc 47 µg/l

ICP test of Jan-02-2023

Copper 12 µg/l
Zinc 16 µg/l

The other numbers look good, except phosphorus/phosphates are high. I've got a little sea lettuce in the refugium, but my other macroalgae all failed to thrive. Possibly due to the high copper?

Should I hit the system with Triton Detox again? I think I have enough to dose it again. I have 2 bags of carbon in the sump and the submerged filter has enough Chemipure Elite to treat 400 gallons according to their directions.

 

[tbrown]

What are your nitrates and phosphates?

 

[Imrahilwjz]

What are your nitrates and phosphates?

Nitrates are probably around 40 ppm

Phosphorus

44.00 µg/l

Phosphate

0.135 mg/l

0.018 - 0.07 mg/l

 

[tbrown]

Nitrates are probably around 40 ppm

Phosphorus

44.00 µg/l

Phosphate

0.135 mg/l

0.018 - 0.07 mg/l

Both a touch high but not ridiculous! It's coming along.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Thanks. That's encouraging. Do you think I should hit it with Detox again, or just do water changes?

 

[tbrown]

I don't know much about copper levels except if they're too high they can be be bad for your tank - especially inverts and corals. You could if you want. It may not hurt. They say levels from 15-20 can kill certain algaes.

I found this:

Too high copper levels from about 20 µg/l(0,26 US.liq.gal.) can cause partial death of corals. This starts with significant brightening of Acropora (later Seriatopora, Pocillopora, and Montipora) and soft corals. First molluscs like bivalves and snails as well as shrimps die. Typically you will see a slow increase before the symptoms get dramatic at some point.

Copper - Fauna Marin

www.faunamarin.de

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Thanks!

 

[Imrahilwjz]

So last Triton ICP test showed 10 micrograms copper and 9 micrograms zinc. LFS guy checked today with a Hanna tester and showed 19 parts per million which I guess is equivalent to 19 micrograms, but he said he'd believe the ICP test first. He seemed startled by the amount of copper even though I've been talking with him about this since October. I think he has a lot on his plate and I don't come in all that often. I added some more poly fiber pads and will continue to do water changes. The levels have been coming down all along. The LFS guy suggested checking to make the pump motors weren't exposed to water, although I'm inclined to think that if I has windings in contact with water all this time the pump would have failed by now and the copper levels wouldn't have come down as much as they have

 

[Imrahilwjz]

On a separate note these are crawling around on my refugium glass

 

[tbrown]

Everything else going good? Have you added any tester macros?

 

[tbrown]

On a separate note these are crawling around on my refugium glass

Flatworms. Not sure what type.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Flatworms. Not sure what type.

It's difficult to get a good picture. I wonder where they came from. I did put some macros in and they didn't do well, but that was quite a while ago. I have some chaeto growing in a 5 gallon container with a small light. Maybe I should try putting a piece of it in