Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > Invert and Plant Forums > Marine Plants & Macroalgae
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 06/07/2017, 09:23 AM   #26
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
System is chugging along, lost a few fish and about half of the red algae's from the GCE pack. On the other hand several are holding fast and this cool macro I got from GCE (I think its Chlorodesmis) is growing very well. Going to sit back and see what happens over the next couple weeks, my wife is dying to toss some zoa's in there so I may let her pick some out.


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 06/22/2017, 09:48 AM   #27
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
going through a bit of a set back right now, a massive diatom or Dino bloom is underway, I've lost all fish except for 2 remaining molly's. This brown scunge is growing on everything! Rocks, sand and plants, I am trying not to jump the gun as I have dealt with this kind of thing before in prior systems and have always been able to bring it back in check.

Here are the steps I'm working on now
1. Feeding the fish no more than a quarter cube of food every other day
2. cut lighting intensity back to 40% on both whites and blues
3. every other day I siphon out as much of the brown junk as I can, including the sandbed, the sand is then rinsed clean and added back in.
4. Added some Phosphate/Silicate remover, only enough for a 60 gallon tank, not enough to bring it down to 0 but enough to make a difference
5. My Macros are still growing, including the new caulerpa I added (Prolifora and sertulariodes) along with the racemosa I already had. Several varieties of red are still holding on.

I am hoping that by reducing feeding, manually removing as much of the brown sludge as possible and encouraging the macro's I can swing the tide in their favor.

One thing I have not been able to do is determine EXACTLY what I am dealing with, Its brown and blows off rocks pretty easily so i suspect Diatoms but am not sure. Hoping its not Dino's as those are reportedly much harder to get rid of.

Send some good thoughts my way cause I am going to get through this!


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 06/22/2017, 10:02 AM   #28
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
Here is the tank yesterday after siphoning the sand, you can still see some brown patches.



My "Filth and Sand catcher", I built it using 3/4 PVC pipe, it sits over my 20 gallon trash can I use for saltwater and that's a sheet of micron filter I put in place. I suck out the stuff, it gets caught in the filter, I pump the clean water back into the tank then scrub the sand of all yuck and put it back in.




__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 06/22/2017, 05:17 PM   #29
Michael Hoaster
Registered Seaweedist
 
Michael Hoaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 5,807
Hang in there and keep removing what you can. Make sure your macros aren't coated so they can compete with whatever it is. Got a nitrogen source like stump remover?


__________________
As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
Michael Hoaster is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 06/23/2017, 09:47 AM   #30
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
My latest nitrate readings still showed good numbers so at this point I don't think I have enough Biomass to impact it. The area's i siphoned the other night definitely show reduced amounts of new growth so I think I am on the right track so far.


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 06/26/2017, 07:52 AM   #31
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
Things are going well so far, regrowth of brown "Scunge", my term since I am still not sure what it is, is definitely decreasing.

Funny side story, I cut back feeding of my two mollies to a quarter cube every 3 days and was trying to figure out why they were so fat still?!? It hit me as they were pulling on my arm hairs while doing a siphoning that they have been scarfing all the micro algae in the system like they are supposed to! So fat happy fish and reduced algae? sounds like a winner to me.


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 06/26/2017, 04:06 PM   #32
MGP
Registered Member
 
MGP's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: St. Pete, FL
Posts: 92
I was/am going through the same brown sludge algae nuesence. Mine are definitely Dino, I added a UV sterilizer and it helped cut back the outbreak. Dino's swim through the water column so it really helps to sterilize them. My macro started to take off once the Dino's receded, likely because nutrients were now available for growth.


MGP is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 06/27/2017, 07:54 AM   #33
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
Yeah, I've decided to go the Hydrogen Peroxide route as well, day one was last night so gonna see how it goes.


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/18/2017, 10:12 AM   #34
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
Update:

Very very good progress, I treated the tank with 7 days of hydrogen peroxide (10 ml's a day) for 7 days, the last three days the tank in complete blackout(wrapped in trash bags). A couple days after that I could see brown growing again on the bottom but no stringy snot bubbles, left for a week vacation and when I came back the sand was clean the macros where growing and all sorts of other growth was occurring! I have fuzz and coraline and even some GHA on one of my powerheads (where the mollies cannot get to it) funny to be excited to see GHA.

A question, has anyone kept lawnmower blennies in the macro tanks to help with micro algae control?


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/19/2017, 12:27 PM   #35
Michael Hoaster
Registered Seaweedist
 
Michael Hoaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 5,807
I haven't kept a lawnmower blenny in my tank, but I was considering its caribbean alternative, the red lip blenny. It should work fine.


__________________
As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
Michael Hoaster is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/21/2017, 01:34 PM   #36
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
I got a pair of firefish and a starry blenny the other day, everyone is settling in nicely and the blenny is already helping himself to the gha growing. The funny part is the GHA is growing on the rocks and foam and not on any of my macro's, so as far as I am concerned its welcome to grow all it wants.


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 08/10/2017, 07:00 AM   #37
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
Update:

The system seems to be settling in, All the new fish are alive and happy and the tank is starting to look less like a brand new system. The Red macro's are growing well and after starting to add Iron/Mag supplement their colors are better. My Caulerpa species have started to slow down and get some GHA growing on them, suspecting a nutrient deficiency I did some testing and found Nitrates at 0 and Phosphates at .25. This explains the GHA as it can grow on phosphates alone but the macro's need both to grow properly. Picked up some of the spectracide stump remover and made up a solution of 1 1/3 tablespoons powder to 12 oz RODI and have started dosing 12.5 ML's a day to see if I can bring my nitrate levels up.

I want to post pics but after Photobuckets policy change I have yet to settle on a new good way to post the pics.

Edit: Also got a free bag of what my LFS calls "Gumbo" its a mix of locally cultured pods of different kinds, been great to start seeding my pod population.


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros

Last edited by BonesCJ; 08/10/2017 at 07:09 AM.
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 08/10/2017, 07:51 AM   #38
Michael Hoaster
Registered Seaweedist
 
Michael Hoaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 5,807
Click the "MY RC" button at the top of the page. On the left there is "Photos and Albums" link. Start an album and upload photos. Open another window on your thread. Copy the "BB code" for each pic you want to post, and paste them into your thread. Limit your pics to 600 pixels wide at 72dpi or they won't be viewable to most people. Hope this helps!


__________________
As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
Michael Hoaster is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 08/10/2017, 08:41 AM   #39
JZinCO
Registered Member
 
JZinCO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: northern CO
Posts: 502
Shutterfly or flikr too


JZinCO is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 08/11/2017, 07:15 AM   #40
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
Playing around with pictures uploaded to RC, I figured if the pictures are for a RC thread then where better to store them!

Full Tank Shot


Shot down the length of the tank


All the live rock in my system is in this one mound


Left side of the tank



__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros

Last edited by BonesCJ; 08/11/2017 at 07:26 AM.
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 08/11/2017, 11:36 AM   #41
Kolkri
Registered Member
 
Kolkri's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 259
Nice do you do a lot of trimming or just let it do its own thing?


__________________
I'm really more a fresh water tank person 125 planted community tank.
29 gallon saltwater tank restarted June 2018

Current Tank Info: 29 gallon coralife bio cube with Superlux lighting
Kolkri is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 08/11/2017, 12:50 PM   #42
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
So far no trimming, I only got things to get a good foothold a couple weeks ago. Macro's were growing real fast then stopped and receded, figured out with recent testing that my Nitrate levels were 0 or at least undetectable so I started Potassium Nitrate dosing on the 9th. Got to wait a little to see how things turn out.


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 08/11/2017, 12:51 PM   #43
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
However, I do plan to let the tank do its own thing, I will trim to keep things in balance, beyond that I let em grow where they want.


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 08/11/2017, 02:23 PM   #44
Michael Hoaster
Registered Seaweedist
 
Michael Hoaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 5,807
First off, great job with the pics! The tank looks great, especially the C. prolifera. The fact that your macros stripped your tank of nutrients means they are chugging along nicely. It won't be long before you figure out the dosing schedule to keep them happy. Just keep in mind that the bigger their biomass gets, the more they need. Then when you get to the point of needing to prune, and the biomass stabilizes, you can stabilize what you dose as well.

Nice work! It looks so cool!


__________________
As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
Michael Hoaster is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 08/15/2017, 08:21 AM   #45
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
Thanks much for the compliments Michael!, its like Picasso telling a preschooler they are doing a good job painting

Been dosing daily and yesterday I finally saw something other than 0 on my test kit, just using API Nitrate test so its not as accurate as a probe but the color was at least trending towards the 5 PPM color, gonna probably cut back now to 10 ml's a day and see if I can keep it there. The hair algae has definitely started to slow down and I am seeing more white tips on my Caulerpas.

A side question, the Gracilliia (Sp?) on the left hand side sometimes looks fuzzy, not GHA, the fuzz is all the same length. Has anyone ever seen that? Its growing nicely.


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 08/15/2017, 01:24 PM   #46
Michael Hoaster
Registered Seaweedist
 
Michael Hoaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 5,807
You're quite welcome! And deserving! I think it's a good idea for all of us to cheer each other's successes. Thank you for your compliment too, though I feel less like Picasso and more like some guy who couldn't hack it with a reef tank…


__________________
As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
Michael Hoaster is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 08/31/2017, 11:32 PM   #47
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
Added a blue yellowtail damsel and a cleaner shrimp last week and they have settled in well, tank almost looks crawling with stuff and is looking very natural, quite the opposite of a neat and orderly SPS tank! I don't even scrape the back glass ��


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/27/2017, 09:18 PM   #48
Michael Hoaster
Registered Seaweedist
 
Michael Hoaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 5,807
Whazzappnin?


__________________
As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance,
our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey

Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
Michael Hoaster is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/05/2017, 12:43 PM   #49
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
Sorry, been kinda running on autopilot, getting all sorts of strange things growing, been too lazy about dosing so some cyano has started growing. Hoping to do a big cleaning today. Did score a PJ cardinal the other day, its funny my red macro's are growing better than my caulerpa


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/15/2017, 08:52 AM   #50
BonesCJ
Registered Member
 
BonesCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Tucson
Posts: 1,420
Harvested about a quart ziploc's worth of the red gracilaria from the left hand side of the tank last night, the coolest thing is its actually established some hold fasts to the foam rockwork and the piece of petrified wood. Tank critters all seem to be fat and happy, its been really hard to get my c. prolifora to really take off (ironic I know). The Gracilaria has been out competing it, so I am hoping by removing a bunch the rest of the macro's will have a better chance.

Still have this really weird yellow snot like stuff that grows in random areas, it blows right off with a turkey baster or toothbrush and manually removing it seems to help but its just a little irritating. Not really hurting anything though.


__________________
Chris K.

Current Tank Info: 90 gallon Green Garden O Macros
BonesCJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:32 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.