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HappilyReefing
Active Member
I haven't noticed anything silky, but I wasn't looking for it either. I'll keep an eye on it for any kind of silky substance.
My First Saltwater Aquarium - Fluval Evo 13.5G
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HappilyReefing
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My peace with QT - part 2
(previously) Seemed like a solid recovery plan, but...
Even with the deep cleaning of the QT and treating the affected corals with 3% hydrogen peroxide for hair algae, I lost almost all of the corals except for the alveopora and acan that are currently in the display. The alveopora had been in QT for 28 days and the acan for 30 days. I also moved the trochus and nassarius snails as well as the walking dendro into the display tank around the same time frame as the corals.
At this point, nothing was making it through the 76 days of QT that I wanted so I put my fish purchase on hold until I could get the display through a 76-day fallow period. I was still clueless about QT for fish diseases versus QT for everything else at this time.
The two corals that are in the display went through two coral dipping sessions, first when I got them and then again before I placed them in the display. I did a cursory inspection of them for pests, but was under the impression that the coral dip would eliminate them for me. Nope. I don't *think* they brought any pests into the display with them, but I am not 100% sure.
Since I couldn't dip the snails, I did a very thorough, visual inspection of them and treated the shells with 3% hydrogen peroxide. I was afraid of pyramid snails getting into the display and killing my clam. Same with the walking dendro. I couldn't dip him so I did a visual inspection and spot treated the outside with 3% H2O2.
It wasn't until I was quarantining my next batch of corals (where I am today) that I realized the coral dips didn't kill things such as bristleworms and feather duster worms because I saw them the next day after I had initially dipped the corals! And...three (total) dipping sessions later, I am still finding them. I went back and reread the QT article AGAIN and that is when it clicked!
(previously) Seemed like a solid recovery plan, but...
Even with the deep cleaning of the QT and treating the affected corals with 3% hydrogen peroxide for hair algae, I lost almost all of the corals except for the alveopora and acan that are currently in the display. The alveopora had been in QT for 28 days and the acan for 30 days. I also moved the trochus and nassarius snails as well as the walking dendro into the display tank around the same time frame as the corals.
At this point, nothing was making it through the 76 days of QT that I wanted so I put my fish purchase on hold until I could get the display through a 76-day fallow period. I was still clueless about QT for fish diseases versus QT for everything else at this time.
The two corals that are in the display went through two coral dipping sessions, first when I got them and then again before I placed them in the display. I did a cursory inspection of them for pests, but was under the impression that the coral dip would eliminate them for me. Nope. I don't *think* they brought any pests into the display with them, but I am not 100% sure.
Since I couldn't dip the snails, I did a very thorough, visual inspection of them and treated the shells with 3% hydrogen peroxide. I was afraid of pyramid snails getting into the display and killing my clam. Same with the walking dendro. I couldn't dip him so I did a visual inspection and spot treated the outside with 3% H2O2.
It wasn't until I was quarantining my next batch of corals (where I am today) that I realized the coral dips didn't kill things such as bristleworms and feather duster worms because I saw them the next day after I had initially dipped the corals! And...three (total) dipping sessions later, I am still finding them. I went back and reread the QT article AGAIN and that is when it clicked!
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HappilyReefing
Active Member
My peace with QT - conclusion
So, QT for fish diseases is pretty straightforward (at least to me). Corals, snails, etc need to be kept in a fishless environment (because fish is the food source) for up to 76 days depending on the temperature of the QT system and whether the animals in question have a hard surface for the parasites to attach to or not.
QT for all other pests is what I still struggle with today. Dipping corals only irritate the pests (I've since found out) i.e. worms, etc so that they detach from the corals and can then be thrown out with the dip solution. However, there is some amount of observation time required to make sure that there were not eggs that haven't hatched or pests that did not detach (I think this is my case).
How to determine if there are still pests on the corals, etc is the problem. I wanted assurance that if I kept my animals in QT for X-number of days (with these treatments) that I am guaranteed to have no pests when I move them to the display. That is just not the case and that is what I am struggling with.
I think at this point I have decided that I will do the best I can to keep pests out of my tank and that is all I can do. If something manages to get past me, then I will take care of it in the display, but I know that I have at least done my due diligence.
As for the corals in QT today, I have made the decision to keep them in QT indefinitely. It is easier to look for anomalies in the 2.5G tank, than it is in the 13.5G with all the aquascape and sand. And it is much, much easier to remove them from QT than the display. It is also simpler to treat the QT, if needed, rather than to try a treatment on the display with all the other animals in it .
Until I can go weeks without spotting new worms in QT, I am not moving the corals. The hitchhikers deemed harmless like the feather duster worm are fine to go into the display as long as I know what I am putting into the tank. Anything that have pests that I can't ID like the scoly are held until I can figure out what the pests are. And the display tank will be kept fishless for at least 76 days once the last additions are made to it.
At the end of the day, whether to QT (and the levels of QT) is a personal choice. For me, it came down to comfort level and risk tolerance about what ultimately goes into my display tank.
This is my plan for QT and I am comfortable with it.
So, QT for fish diseases is pretty straightforward (at least to me). Corals, snails, etc need to be kept in a fishless environment (because fish is the food source) for up to 76 days depending on the temperature of the QT system and whether the animals in question have a hard surface for the parasites to attach to or not.
QT for all other pests is what I still struggle with today. Dipping corals only irritate the pests (I've since found out) i.e. worms, etc so that they detach from the corals and can then be thrown out with the dip solution. However, there is some amount of observation time required to make sure that there were not eggs that haven't hatched or pests that did not detach (I think this is my case).
How to determine if there are still pests on the corals, etc is the problem. I wanted assurance that if I kept my animals in QT for X-number of days (with these treatments) that I am guaranteed to have no pests when I move them to the display. That is just not the case and that is what I am struggling with.
I think at this point I have decided that I will do the best I can to keep pests out of my tank and that is all I can do. If something manages to get past me, then I will take care of it in the display, but I know that I have at least done my due diligence.
As for the corals in QT today, I have made the decision to keep them in QT indefinitely. It is easier to look for anomalies in the 2.5G tank, than it is in the 13.5G with all the aquascape and sand. And it is much, much easier to remove them from QT than the display. It is also simpler to treat the QT, if needed, rather than to try a treatment on the display with all the other animals in it .
Until I can go weeks without spotting new worms in QT, I am not moving the corals. The hitchhikers deemed harmless like the feather duster worm are fine to go into the display as long as I know what I am putting into the tank. Anything that have pests that I can't ID like the scoly are held until I can figure out what the pests are. And the display tank will be kept fishless for at least 76 days once the last additions are made to it.
At the end of the day, whether to QT (and the levels of QT) is a personal choice. For me, it came down to comfort level and risk tolerance about what ultimately goes into my display tank.
This is my plan for QT and I am comfortable with it.
OP
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HappilyReefing
Active Member
Display Tank Update
I did an out-of-cycle water change today because I had what I believe is a cyanobacteria bloom this week. It had been there for a little while, but the patch had always been small. For whatever reason, it got huge seemingly overnight.
I vacuumed the sand in the affected area and scraped the glass in that area as well since it looked like it had reddish filaments on it.
Water Parameters
I know that I have dinoflagellates (usually around the clam), but it wasn't too bad and I was willing to let it resolve itself. I was going to do the same with the cyanobacteria, but this was a bit too much to leave alone.
I only fed Reef-Roids today (broadcast) and gave Tux his nori, but decided to skip the meaty foods for the anemones and dendro. I had just fed them on Tuesday and will do so again on Sunday so I think they will be fine without this feeding.
I plan to do my regular water change on Saturday. In the meantime, I will be keeping an eye on that little area that is having trouble.
I did an out-of-cycle water change today because I had what I believe is a cyanobacteria bloom this week. It had been there for a little while, but the patch had always been small. For whatever reason, it got huge seemingly overnight.
I vacuumed the sand in the affected area and scraped the glass in that area as well since it looked like it had reddish filaments on it.
Water Parameters
- Salinity 1.024
- Alkalinity 8.15dKH
- Calcium 370ppm
- Magnesium 1395ppm
- pH 8.15
- Phosphate 0.00ppm --> this is not good
- Nitrate 2.5ppm
I know that I have dinoflagellates (usually around the clam), but it wasn't too bad and I was willing to let it resolve itself. I was going to do the same with the cyanobacteria, but this was a bit too much to leave alone.
I only fed Reef-Roids today (broadcast) and gave Tux his nori, but decided to skip the meaty foods for the anemones and dendro. I had just fed them on Tuesday and will do so again on Sunday so I think they will be fine without this feeding.
I plan to do my regular water change on Saturday. In the meantime, I will be keeping an eye on that little area that is having trouble.
Sharkbait19
10K Club member
Try increasing flow by that area and/or getting some sandsifting inverts. They help keep the sandbed spotless.
I had luck (in freshwater) using chemiclean to battle cyano. You just have to remove as much as possible beforehand and increase oxygenation when dosing. May take 2 doses.
I had luck (in freshwater) using chemiclean to battle cyano. You just have to remove as much as possible beforehand and increase oxygenation when dosing. May take 2 doses.
jfoahs04
Well-Known Member
Yeah, it's not foolproof. I don't QT coral or inverts. I dip the coral, I always remove frag plugs (that's where most uglies are), and I try to be selective about sources. A number of LFS and online dealers sell inverts from fishless systems. I choose them for my CUC and inverts and I just float and drop those. For coral, I skip the LFS and try to buy from a handful of local reefers who I know have clean systems. But I've still managed deal with Zoa eating nudibranchs, flatworms (thankfully not the acro/monti eating varieties), etc. There aren't many reefers who haven't had to deal with them.
Your approach to QT seems reasonable.
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HappilyReefing
Active Member
I'll work on my flow on Saturday after the water change. I had decreased my water pump's flow rate drastically when I went back to the single RFG nozzle and wavemaker. I'll increase the pump's flow rate and maybe reset the angle of the nozzle. I thought I had my flow dialed in, but I guess not.
I'm leery about using any product that claims they kill algae right now because of the Vibrant issue that is currently being discussed. I'm hoping to clear this up with a little elbow grease and using natural solutions first.
I have one nassarius snail in the tank. He was in that general area, but he has since moved to the space underneath the arch. The walking dendro with his peanut worm is around Dragon Island, but doesn't get over to the little island at all.
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HappilyReefing
Active Member
That's good advice. I just have to realize that nothing is foolproof and be prepared to have to deal with pests in the display at some point (because I will have them).
I've since limited where I purchase my stuff from as well.
When I first started buying corals, I didn't know to take the corals off the old plugs and put them on new ones. I just kept them on the original plugs (newbie mistake). When I went to put them in the display (alveopora and acan), I did finally put them on new plugs (that's when I broke pieces off of the alveopora).
With the new batch of corals, I did take them all off the old plugs and ended up cracking the base of a few of them. Just another learning curve to this crazy hobby.
I'm glad to have my QT system, but I am now using it to mainly monitor my purchases before adding them to the display tank. There's really no time limit now as far as I'm concerned. When I feel comfortable with the item, I'll move it.
zdrc
Active Member
I originally wanted a Randall's Pistol Shrimp which I just found out is the same as the Candy Cane Shrimp you mention as they are both Alpheus randalli. Hmm...maybe I'll give him a chance.
Here are some pictures of the translucent worms? I'm not convinced they are worms, but they may be something I don't want in the tank. Had to move the scoly (and made him mad) in order to take pictures as they are not very easy to see.
I have tried to siphon/blow the one on top off the coral, but it doesn't move. I have also tried to pull it off with tweezers, but no success.
Could these be sweeper tentacles?
Sharkbait19
10K Club member
I was thinking that, but don’t those usually come from the mouth areas?
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HappilyReefing
Active Member
This guy took all the precautions (and then some) that I would have taken if I were to handle zoas/palys (if I had any) and he still got hit with palytoxin poisoning. What did he do wrong?
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HappilyReefing
Active Member
Are sweeper tentacles the same as feeding tentacles? I have seen the scoly's feeding tentacles out so I know what they look like.
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HappilyReefing
Active Member
I've seen the tentacles around the mouth area, but I thought those were the feeding tentacles. Is that the same thing? And these others are not around the mouth area.
zdrc
Active Member
Sweeper tentacles are used by corals to attack and sting other nearby corals. They are not the same thing as feeding tentacles, they're usually much longer. You can find photos online. I don't think scolys are known for being aggressive, but I do think they have sweeper tentacles. I'm not sure if sweepers normally come from the mouth or not.
Sharkbait19
10K Club member
Juice in an open wound can do it.
Also can depend on species, the wild guys are nasty.
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HappilyReefing
Active Member
I think the lower ones may be sweeper tentacles (need to find more photos to make sure), but the one that is sticking straight up I'm beginning to think is the tube for a worm, possibly a feather duster.
I was looking at the tank and saw that it had its two little tentacles up and was waving them around so I took a picture. A few minutes later, I went back to look at it again and the tentacles were gone! I did see a thin, red body lower down in the transparent tube (?) so I'm thinking he retracted into his home.
First of all, are the feather duster tubes transparent (I thought they were opaque) and secondly, don't they build their tubes inside the coral's skeleton (for safety), not sticking straight up? Is this a feather duster at all with only two tentacles?
Sharkbait19
10K Club member
Not a duster, can’t say for sure it isn’t a vermetid.
@Mibu @vetteguy53081
Let’s get some better eyes on it.
@Mibu @vetteguy53081
Let’s get some better eyes on it.
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HappilyReefing
Active Member
Continuing with the build thread...
I wanted to get alkalinity and calcium up (target alkalinity = 9.0dKH, calcium = 400ppm) a little bit for my clam so I started researching different dosing products. I settled on All-For-Reef because I would only have to dose this one product rather than multiple products (I thought).
I started dosing All-For-Reef about 1.5 weeks after I placed my clam in the display tank. I know the water volume in my tank is approximately 10G so I set up my dosing levels (erred toward the conservative side to avoid overdosing) accordingly following the directions on the canister (I am using the powder which I mix with RODI water).
I was going to monitor alkalinity and calcium daily and check the other water parameters weekly during my Saturday water changes. Here are my log entries while trying to dial in my All-For-Reef dosing values.
At this point, I realized that I have been dosing (or trying to figure out how much to dose) the All-For-Reef all wrong. I was supposed to start dosing 1.5mL daily for the first week and then increment the daily dose by 1.0mL on a weekly basis...oops!
I decided to finish out the week the way I have been doing it and planned to re-evaluate the next week.
** Read that calcium levels do not change very quickly so decided just to check alkalinity daily and test calcium weekly during water changes
During my weekly water change, I saw that the magnesium levels were really high (1470ppm, 1485ppm - I checked twice just to make sure) so I decided to skip the next dose and go back to the original dosing levels as the first week, but on every other day.
At this point, my calcium has stayed rock steady at around 380ppm while my alkalinity changes based on my dosing levels. I realize now that I will need to dose for calcium separately to bring it up to 400ppm like I want so I am in the process of buying Tropic Marin Original Balling Component - Part A.
Meanwhile, I am going to go back to dosing every day like my first week's schedule to keep my alkalinity closer to 9.0dKH and see how it goes.
I wanted to get alkalinity and calcium up (target alkalinity = 9.0dKH, calcium = 400ppm) a little bit for my clam so I started researching different dosing products. I settled on All-For-Reef because I would only have to dose this one product rather than multiple products (I thought).
I started dosing All-For-Reef about 1.5 weeks after I placed my clam in the display tank. I know the water volume in my tank is approximately 10G so I set up my dosing levels (erred toward the conservative side to avoid overdosing) accordingly following the directions on the canister (I am using the powder which I mix with RODI water).
I was going to monitor alkalinity and calcium daily and check the other water parameters weekly during my Saturday water changes. Here are my log entries while trying to dial in my All-For-Reef dosing values.
Date | Alkalinity | Calcium | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
01-28-22 | 7.1dKH | 380ppm | Tested on Friday before weekly water changes |
01-29-22 | 7.2dKH | 365ppm | Tested after water change. Dosed 1.5mL of AFR |
01-30-22 | 7.0dKH | 370ppm | No noticeable change in calcium after dosing; slightly downward trend in alk, but could be due to accuracy of test? Dosed 1.0mL |
01-31-22 | 7.3dKH | 380ppm | Alk and Ca are moving up - will dose another 1.0mL today |
02-01-22 | 7.7dKH | 380ppm | Dosing another 1.0mL today |
02-02-22 | 7.7dKH | 390ppm | Another 1.0mL today |
At this point, I realized that I have been dosing (or trying to figure out how much to dose) the All-For-Reef all wrong. I was supposed to start dosing 1.5mL daily for the first week and then increment the daily dose by 1.0mL on a weekly basis...oops!
I decided to finish out the week the way I have been doing it and planned to re-evaluate the next week.
Date | Alkalinity | Calcium | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
02-03-22 | 7.7dKH | 370ppm | Another 1.0mL today |
02-04-22 | 7.7dKH | 380ppm | Dosed 1.0mL today |
02-05-22 | 8.0dKH | 375ppm | Dosed 1.5mL - Nitrates are high; everything else looks okay |
02-06-22 | 8.15dKH | 380ppm | Dosed 1.5mL today |
02-07-22 | 8.3dKH | 380ppm | Dosed 1.5mL today; added trochus snail |
02-08-22 | 8.3dKH | 370ppm | Dosed 1.5mL today |
02-09-22 | 8.3dKH | ** | Dosed 1.5mL today; added alveopora |
02-10-22 | 8.3dKH | | Dosed 1.5mL today |
02-11-22 | 8.3dKH | | Dosed 1.5mL today; added acan |
02-12-22 | 8.6dKH | 380ppm | Dosed 2.0mL today |
02-13-22 | 8.75dKH | Dosed 1.5mL; I think this is the dosage; added walking dendro today | |
02-14-22 | 8.6dKH | Dosed 1.5mL; no longer checking alkalinity daily | |
02-15-22 | | Dosed 1.5mL | |
02-16-22 | Dosed 1.5mL; moved nassarius snail to DT | ||
02-17-22 | Dosed 1.5mL | ||
02-18-22 | Dosed 1.5mL | ||
02-19-22 | 9.1dKH | 380ppm | Dosed 1.5mL; magnesium way too high; skip AFR dose tomorrow |
** Read that calcium levels do not change very quickly so decided just to check alkalinity daily and test calcium weekly during water changes
During my weekly water change, I saw that the magnesium levels were really high (1470ppm, 1485ppm - I checked twice just to make sure) so I decided to skip the next dose and go back to the original dosing levels as the first week, but on every other day.
Date | Alkalinity | Calcium | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
02-21-22 | Dosed 1.0mL | ||
02-23-22 | Dosed 1.0mL (late evening) | ||
02-25-22 | Dosed 1.0mL (early morning) | ||
02-26-22 | 8.75dKH | 380ppm | Continue with last week's dosing schedule and check in one week; dosed 1.5mL |
02-28-22 | Dosed 1.0mL | ||
03-03-22 | Dosed 1.0mL; forgot to dose yesterday | ||
03-04-22 | Dosed 1.0mL | ||
03-05-22 | 8.3dKH | 380ppm | |
03-06-22 | Dosed 1.5mL | ||
03-07-22 | Dosed 1.0mL | ||
03-09-22 | Dosed 1.0mL (late evening) | ||
03-10-22 | 8.15dKH | 370ppm | out-of-cycle water change due to cyanobacteria bloom |
03-11-22 | Dosed 1.0mL |
At this point, my calcium has stayed rock steady at around 380ppm while my alkalinity changes based on my dosing levels. I realize now that I will need to dose for calcium separately to bring it up to 400ppm like I want so I am in the process of buying Tropic Marin Original Balling Component - Part A.
Meanwhile, I am going to go back to dosing every day like my first week's schedule to keep my alkalinity closer to 9.0dKH and see how it goes.
Last edited:
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HappilyReefing
Active Member
After getting Tux settled into the tank, I began to notice that his poop would swirl in the water column, but always end up underneath the dual RFG nozzles or along the back wall in that area (because he was hanging out in that area at the beginning). That's curious. I hadn't had anything else in the tank floating around before so I thought my flow was pretty darn good with two return nozzles. Come to find out it wasn't that great 
.
Now that I really started looking at how the flow went around my tank (I was tracking poop), I saw a few dead spots (underneath the arch, under the return, around the back side of the two islands). I thought the flow from two nozzles would be fairly strong (about half (?) of what it was through one) and the second nozzle would provide flow to the overflow side of the tank that I was missing with the single nozzle. It should be working great! I was so wrong.
After researching it some more to figure out what was happening, I came upon this formula
where Diameter is the inside measurement of the plumbing which in my case were the Y connector, loc-line knuckles, and RFG nozzles (I think).
My understanding of flow mechanics is very, very rudimentary (okay, I don't really understand it), but I was able to figure out that by adding the second nozzle, I had effectively reduced the velocity (what I am calling flow) out of the nozzles by 4 [ (2xDiameter)^2 = 4xDiameter^2 ] and then halving that again (I think?) so that each nozzle was putting out an eighth of what the single nozzle was putting out. Irregardless of whether each nozzle was putting out a quarter or an eighth of the original, it was still pretty bad.
In this example, I'm basically keeping the Flow Rate the same (pump is set to maximum) and just adding in the second set of loc-line knuckles plus second RFG nozzle to the first set for Diameter while ignoring the Y connector (because that's too complicated for me to deal with). This link (https://reefs.com/magazine/an-engineering-view-of-aquarium-systems-design-pumps-and-plumbing/) provides more details about the equation if interested.
Of course, I could be completely wrong, but what I do know was that the flow out of the two nozzles was much weaker than out of the one.
In essence, the water movement out of the two nozzles couldn't provide the flow I wanted/needed for my tank. Now I understood why VCA set a minimum flow rate for dual nozzles at 250-400 G/hr (my pump is 260G/hr max), but stated for optimal performance, the flow rate should be 640-670G/hr. My poor little pump barely met the minimum specifications for dual nozzle use and it showed!
The only solution that I came up with was to add a wave maker to the far side of the tank (near Dragon Island) facing the overflow. I needed the return to shoot water to the islands and the wave maker would blow water the other way.
I settled on the Hygger HG-951-14W wave maker rated for 1500GPH (mainly due to its small footprint), bought an anemone guard for it, and set it up on the following schedule:
The Hygger settings are w x y z where
w = time of day
x = power (1 = 40%, 2 = 60%, 3 = 80%, 4 = 100%)
y = wave mode (1 = square, 2 = sinusoidal, 3 = no wave, constant stream, 4 = random)
z = wave frequency (1 = fastest frequency --> 8 = slowest frequency)
When I first set up the Hygger, I immediately took it out of the tank because there was too much flow with it and the single RFG nozzle (with the water pump set at maximum) in the tank. Everything was being blown wildly around.
I decided to see if I could fix the flow issue without the wave maker by adjusting the pump's flow rate and changing the nozzle positioning (essentially back to where I was at the beginning). I'm not sure what I was thinking since that didn't work for me the first time around.
From my initial try with the single RFG nozzle, I already knew that the location of the return and the large size of the aquascape were preventing the water flow from turning the corner around the two islands and coming back toward the overflow. Add in the fact that I didn't want to point the return at the top of the arch where my clam was situated because he wouldn't appreciate it and I was stuck.
I finally realized that I could have the wave maker in the tank with the single nozzle if I turned down the pump's flow rate. I'm sorry to say that it took me until the first week of February to come to this conclusion.
Today, the pump setting currently has the "+" sign on the dial pointing to 3 o'clock which I believe is < 50%. The nozzle is slightly pointing down and toward the glass away from the clam. Now that I am dealing with a cyanobacteria outbreak around the two islands, I plan to revisit the pump flow rate setting and/or nozzle position to get more water movement to the affected area.
.Now that I really started looking at how the flow went around my tank (I was tracking poop), I saw a few dead spots (underneath the arch, under the return, around the back side of the two islands). I thought the flow from two nozzles would be fairly strong (about half (?) of what it was through one) and the second nozzle would provide flow to the overflow side of the tank that I was missing with the single nozzle. It should be working great! I was so wrong.
After researching it some more to figure out what was happening, I came upon this formula
Velocity = Flow Rate/Diameter^2
where Diameter is the inside measurement of the plumbing which in my case were the Y connector, loc-line knuckles, and RFG nozzles (I think).
My understanding of flow mechanics is very, very rudimentary (okay, I don't really understand it), but I was able to figure out that by adding the second nozzle, I had effectively reduced the velocity (what I am calling flow) out of the nozzles by 4 [ (2xDiameter)^2 = 4xDiameter^2 ] and then halving that again (I think?) so that each nozzle was putting out an eighth of what the single nozzle was putting out. Irregardless of whether each nozzle was putting out a quarter or an eighth of the original, it was still pretty bad.
In this example, I'm basically keeping the Flow Rate the same (pump is set to maximum) and just adding in the second set of loc-line knuckles plus second RFG nozzle to the first set for Diameter while ignoring the Y connector (because that's too complicated for me to deal with). This link (https://reefs.com/magazine/an-engineering-view-of-aquarium-systems-design-pumps-and-plumbing/) provides more details about the equation if interested.
Of course, I could be completely wrong, but what I do know was that the flow out of the two nozzles was much weaker than out of the one.
In essence, the water movement out of the two nozzles couldn't provide the flow I wanted/needed for my tank. Now I understood why VCA set a minimum flow rate for dual nozzles at 250-400 G/hr (my pump is 260G/hr max), but stated for optimal performance, the flow rate should be 640-670G/hr. My poor little pump barely met the minimum specifications for dual nozzle use and it showed!
The only solution that I came up with was to add a wave maker to the far side of the tank (near Dragon Island) facing the overflow. I needed the return to shoot water to the islands and the wave maker would blow water the other way.
I settled on the Hygger HG-951-14W wave maker rated for 1500GPH (mainly due to its small footprint), bought an anemone guard for it, and set it up on the following schedule:
Time | Time of Day | Hygger Setting |
|---|---|---|
5:30am - 7:30am | Dawn | 1 1 1 8 |
7:30am - 9:00am | Sunrise | 2 1 2 6 |
9:00am - 2:00pm | Daylight | 3 1 2 4 |
2:00pm - 4:30pm | Sunset | 4 0 4 0 |
4:30pm - 5:30am | Night | 5 1 1 8 |
The Hygger settings are w x y z where
w = time of day
x = power (1 = 40%, 2 = 60%, 3 = 80%, 4 = 100%)
y = wave mode (1 = square, 2 = sinusoidal, 3 = no wave, constant stream, 4 = random)
z = wave frequency (1 = fastest frequency --> 8 = slowest frequency)
When I first set up the Hygger, I immediately took it out of the tank because there was too much flow with it and the single RFG nozzle (with the water pump set at maximum) in the tank. Everything was being blown wildly around.
I decided to see if I could fix the flow issue without the wave maker by adjusting the pump's flow rate and changing the nozzle positioning (essentially back to where I was at the beginning). I'm not sure what I was thinking since that didn't work for me the first time around.
From my initial try with the single RFG nozzle, I already knew that the location of the return and the large size of the aquascape were preventing the water flow from turning the corner around the two islands and coming back toward the overflow. Add in the fact that I didn't want to point the return at the top of the arch where my clam was situated because he wouldn't appreciate it and I was stuck.
I finally realized that I could have the wave maker in the tank with the single nozzle if I turned down the pump's flow rate. I'm sorry to say that it took me until the first week of February to come to this conclusion
.Today, the pump setting currently has the "+" sign on the dial pointing to 3 o'clock which I believe is < 50%. The nozzle is slightly pointing down and toward the glass away from the clam. Now that I am dealing with a cyanobacteria outbreak around the two islands, I plan to revisit the pump flow rate setting and/or nozzle position to get more water movement to the affected area.
OP
OP
HappilyReefing
Active Member
Lots to do on cleaning day. Let's get to it...
Water Parameters
).
I'll leave this setup for a week and see if it helps my cyanobacteria problem. I won't be too surprised if some residents of Dragon Island decide to pack up their bags and leave because of the flow change.
The clam squirted water out of the tank while I was cleaning (first time that has happened). I gave Tux some nori, but didn't catch the larger trochus snail to clean off the algae "flower" on his shell. He was lower down on the rock and I don't like to use a lot of force to get him off. I'll wait for him to pop up to the top of the arch which will make it easier to grab him.
BTW - I am using Salifert test kits and a Hanna Salinity Tester to check my water parameters.
Water Parameters
- Salinity 1.024
- Alkalinity 7.7dKH
- Calcium 375ppm
- Magnesium 1395ppm
- pH 8.15
- Phosphate 0.00ppm --> still concerning, but not unexpected since I just tested 2 days ago
- Nitrate 2.5ppm
- Scraping the glass
- Vacuuming the sand
- Lightly brushing the rock surfaces
- Gently cleaning the clam's shell
- Blowing detritus out of the sand/off rocks
- Changing/cleaning the filter media
- Cleaning Chamber 1/2 baskets
- Changed 10-15% of the water volume
).I'll leave this setup for a week and see if it helps my cyanobacteria problem. I won't be too surprised if some residents of Dragon Island decide to pack up their bags and leave because of the flow change.
The clam squirted water out of the tank while I was cleaning (first time that has happened). I gave Tux some nori, but didn't catch the larger trochus snail to clean off the algae "flower" on his shell. He was lower down on the rock and I don't like to use a lot of force to get him off. I'll wait for him to pop up to the top of the arch which will make it easier to grab him.
BTW - I am using Salifert test kits and a Hanna Salinity Tester to check my water parameters.
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