Red_Beard's 75 Tank Build

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Dang, brother, that sucks. That's the one beast I'm hoping to avoid but I suppose there's no better substitute for experience. Will definitely be keeping a closer eye on your progress. Have you looked at the Dinos thread here on R2R? It's about 500+ pages but boys/girls really got a ton of experience over there.

 

[Red_Beard]

Haven't looked at that specific one yet but it's on the list. I've been combing through a few others though. Love this place, don't think I'd be successful without it!

Post scrub update:

Missed a few little spots but it looks tons better. It's hard to see with all the bubbles. They worked awesome though, almost all the gunk ended up in the socks. Going to do it again tomorrow and vaccum the sand/water change. Fingers crossed this doesn't get too bad!

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Haven't looked at that specific one yet but it's on the list. I've been combing through a few others though. Love this place, don't think I'd be successful without it!

Post scrub update:

Missed a few little spots but it looks tons better. It's hard to see with all the bubbles. They worked awesome though, almost all the gunk ended up in the socks. Going to do it again tomorrow and vaccum the sand/water change. Fingers crossed this doesn't get too bad!

Awesome!

 

[Red_Beard]

Here we go!

I will try to document how this battle goes the best i can. Dosing starts today, goodbye dinos!
Starting params:
0 no3
0 po4
8.3 dkH
330 ppm ca
8.2 ph
1420 ppm mag
I estimated my total volume about 85 gallons, targeted .02 ppm po4, so i dosed 6.5 ml neophos. I targeted 1 ppm nitrate for now and added 10.5 ml neonitro. To round it out I added 2 ml microbacter7, when nutrients start to stay a little higher i may up the microbac dosage.

Fingers crossed!

 

[Red_Beard]

Day 2 update:

Tank looks the same No film on the glass, maybe the mat on the sand is a bit more dense... not much though.

Testing no3 shows that I have now 1ppm. I dosed another 10.5ml which hopefully puts me at 2ppm.
I was having a hard time reading the po4 test. the color goes from a tan-ish color to blue on the scale, but my vial had more of a red tint. It was almost a pink-ish color. I retested just to see if I miscounted drops but it looked the same. Either way it probably needed more. I dosed another 6.5ml for another .02ppm of po4. Also dosed another mil or 2 of microbacter7.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Might be worth picking up Hanna ULR phosphate checker.

I know it's throwing more $$ at it, but
I find it pretty invaluable (along with the Alk checker) . Hanna had a 10 percent off at most online vendors yesterday, not sure if it's still running or now.

Also, based on the info the Dino thread, if look into picking up a cheapo microscope and try to get an ID on these buggers. Some can be easily killed with UV...buy a cheap Jebao UV cannon (under 100), then store it just in case.

 

[Red_Beard]

I have one of the el cheapo green water killer uv's that mount in tank, i thought about putting it in but I am curious to see what happens with just nutrient addition. I also debated heavy to get the checker or not, I think I will eventually but this time i wanted a better nitrate kit too. Also I've been told that my wallet is in quarantine....I got caught looking at microscopes lol.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

I have one of the el cheapo green water killer uv's that mount in tank, i thought about putting it in but I am curious to see what happens with just nutrient addition. I also debated heavy to get the checker or not, I think I will eventually but this time i wanted a better nitrate kit too. Also I've been told that my wallet is in quarantine....I got caught looking at microscopes lol.

Hahaha, you too huh? I don't know if you have kids, but you can get them an early Christmas present :cool:. I was told the gold hammer I got few weeks back was my last buy for a while. I don't think she realized that my CUC in QT has trippled last week... Fingers crossed...

As for nutrients, in my case nitrate is significantly easier to manage as it doesn't swing nearly as much as phosphate. I dose NO3 once a week by 1ppm, unlike PO4 which is dosed by 0.02 daily. I'm burning through some reagents measuring twice a week.... I should probably dial it back to weekly.

 

[Red_Beard]

Day 3, the saga continues....
Tested this morning, phos was 0 nitrate was 1ppm. Doubled my phos dose, 13 ml and didnt dose nitrate. Starting to get film algae on the glass! And, it looks like the pods are coming out in force to mow it down.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Day 3, the saga continues....
Tested this morning, phos was 0 nitrate was 1ppm. Doubled my phos dose, 13 ml and didnt dose nitrate. Starting to get film algae on the glass! And, it looks like the pods are coming out in force to mow it down.

Where did you source your pods from?

 

[Red_Beard]

I got a bag from reef cleaners, they are awesome! Population EXPLODED! I can't say enough good things about them. Too bad you just got an order...;)

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

I got a bag from reef cleaners, they are awesome! Population EXPLODED! I can't say enough good things about them. Too bad you just got an order...;)

Haha dang.

 

[Red_Beard]

Day 4/5 update:

This tank is HUNGRY! Dosed .5ppm po4 yesterday and this morning it was down to the bottom of the scale on the test kit. Same with nitate. Dosed 2ppm and it was down to 1. Dosed another .5 ppm po4 and 2ppm no3.

It's starting to look betterish though, getting much more film on the glass, but the sand/ rock are looking kinda rough. Going to let it ride a day or 2 and then hit it with the scrubby.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Have you seen this?

https://reefbuilders.com/2020/05/11/dinoflagellate-aquarium-treatment/
There's also several members in the big Dino thread that are using the 82F method with success.

 

[Red_Beard]

Have you seen this?

https://reefbuilders.com/2020/05/11/dinoflagellate-aquarium-treatment/
There's also several members in the big Dino thread that are using the 82F method with success.

Thanks for the link. If that works that would be sweet, i will have to dial it up tomorrow am! My heaters are under my skimmer stand.

For a quick update, still dosing like crazy and testing really low. Stuff is starting to look better though. The glass is totally covered with film now. Oh, and one of the snails laid eggs on the glass, would have took a picture but foxy ate them right after I saw it.

 

[Red_Beard]

Ok man, pulled and cleaned the skimmer and cranked the heat up to 82. Let’s give this a shot!

Low nutrients is not a problem I thought I’d ever encounter lol, tank still eats about .75 ppm nitrate and .04 ppm phosphate a DAY!

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Ok man, pulled and cleaned the skimmer and cranked the heat up to 82. Let’s give this a shot!

Low nutrients is not a problem I thought I’d ever encounter lol, tank still eats about .75 ppm nitrate and .04 ppm phosphate a DAY!

Sounds like mine.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

How's it looking?

 

[Red_Beard]

:( slow.

I started cleaning the sand every 2-3 days and i am starting to see some green under all the mess so i think it is starting to turn the corner... hopefully. Sorry for all the purple, makes it hard to see green.

Holy cow though, i went from a gallon a day evaporation to easy a little over 2 when i raised the temp to 82:p
Still dosing .2 ppm phos daily and double dosing every 3rd day. Still reading <= .03. On the bright side i finally got nitrates to stabilize at 5pmm. Haven't dosed that in a few days. Still adding mbac7 most every day too.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Dang, well, keep it up!

On this end, I'm upto my ears in GHA... Seems to grow back faster than the Tomini or the emerald crab can eat it. Started weekly Vibrant back up hoping it does something.