Soulpatch's 150 SC build

[soulpatch]

Yes tunze scrapper is amazing.

Some pics from tonight



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[soulpatch]

You can see the bubble algae issue I have to a point. THe lower rock work in the tank is decently covered. I need to get jumping on that clean up as Reef had done and siphon through to a bucket and pour back in.

I am hoping my tang and rabbit can help a bit as well and that my emeralds can keep at it.

Finally still having a few aptasia to deal with. I kill them as I see them but as with life they keep popping up.

[cincyjim]

Of all the algae it is the Bubble algae that I fear the most. I wish you the best of luck with it!

[soulpatch]

Originally Posted by cincyjim

Of all the algae it is the Bubble algae that I fear the most. I wish you the best of luck with it!

It is not the one I fear the most as there are some uncommon algaes like the pink cotton candy one and others that are impossible to rid yourself of.

I would have preferred GHA or bryopsis though as I could easily treat for those.

That said I will start hammering away at it on weekends I am home. Using a bucket and sock as Reef did to save water allows me to really get after it without having to have serious expenses in salt. Reef's guy drained into a sock in a bucket then poured water back in.

I gotta say I agree with him to an extent that we all go with emeralds and whatnot to control it but they pop it in the water as well so the spores are of limited concern to me and I figure if I keep up with it I can get ahead. Summer is always tough for me since I am away so many weekends but I will get er done over time.

[cincyjim]

I have no doubt you'll get this knocked out!!! Crazy how things just come out of nowhere.

[strat1960s]

Wouldn't a uv sterilizer help??

[soulpatch]

Perhaps a small bit strat but it would only get the water through it and not left in tank. I have been thinking about getting one but right now money is being saved for Disney trip in May and likely an alk monitor

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[soulpatch]

started bubble algae removal this weekend. I took a pair of tweezers and started to pull it from rocks. I started with a hose to a sock in a bucket but it was too small to pick up the large chunks of bubble i was trying to get out. I went to 1/2" tube and that filed bucket too quick. I then yanked a MJ1200 pump I had and had it flush water through sock and stay in tank. It was ok but annoying as it was all over the place and I had to ensure the pump didnt break any corals. I then went to simply pulling the bubble and putting it into a specimen container to manually empty

And crap as I write this I am thinking to myself I am an idiot and I should have just drained the 1/2" tube into a sock in the sump. My overflow would lose balance to a degree but it should work fine I would think. Just attach a mesh sock to the end of the tube like I had in the bucket but instead leave it in the sump. I will need to try that tonight as this is going to be an ongoing battle to get the algae out. I can't easily remove my rock to take it out and scrub so the backsides where I can not easily reach will have to be left to my couple emeralds, tang, and foxface if they decide to finally eat this stuff...

Likely order in some more from reef cleaners so I can get some more emeralds and try a chiton again...

[homer1475]

Originally Posted by soulpatch

And crap as I write this I am thinking to myself I am an idiot and I should have just drained the 1/2" tube into a sock in the sump. My overflow would lose balance to a degree but it should work fine I would think. Just attach a mesh sock to the end of the tube like I had in the bucket but instead leave it in the sump. I will need to try that tonight as this is going to be an ongoing battle to get the algae out.

I was doing this same method for GHA. Works great and you don't lose any water in process.

[soulpatch]

yeah at this early stage of the fight I am NOT concerned about the spore potential as they have to latch on and grow while I am constantly removing. Eventually when I see a potential end in sight I will do it with water changes I guess to mitigate that risk.

Right now I just want the mats of it gone. I get perhaps 75% of it out as a bubble still and only pop the one or two where my tweezers grip onto.

Maybe I should pull my algae clip as well for a few days to entice my new powder blue and foxface to go after my rocks.


On another fish note I need to get some pics of my tusk. He is slowly growing and shifting colors. It has been pretty cool to watch the blue start to come in. Excited to see his teeth really grow in and for the vibrant blue to color up on him.

[Blink2824]

I'm up against an intense bubble algae battle as well... I'm thinking of trying to beef up the emerald crabs or maybe trying a small Red Sea desjardini ... I hear both are hit or miss. Even though reef cleaners does have a guarantee... good luck.


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[homer1475]

I think the popping and releasing spores is way overblown.

I had some hitch hike in on a frag from my biocube. Grabbed the suckers with tweezers, and yanked them out. Of course they all popped, but over a year later and still no bubble algae in my tank.

[soulpatch]

I have a couple emeralds in there now. Maybe 3 at this point though I only ever see 2 and one is larger and seems to ignore the bubble algae now. I will likely add a few more.

Homer - I used to be more worried about it but after thinking about it and talking to Reef I dont see the big deal if you get 50+% out without popping. Emeralds pop it as they eat it as will any other predator.

I do need to get my fuge popping again as I have mainly gha and such in there now. My chateo did not survive the nearly week it took me to get in new fuge light (I was lazy and didnt swap in a regular bulb thinking it would make it a couple days... I was wrong)

I will eventually win. It is just a painful time consuming exercise when I have set up most of my tank to automate things so I dont have to be hands on much. Maybe I need to spend some time and investigate an ATS some more and totally outcompete it. dunno.



reefcleaners is cool and all but his shipping is too high IMHO. I lost my chitons and emeralds on my last shipment from him which were reason for the $40 overnight and only got the livestock refunded. I would have liked the upcharge in shipping back or at least split as well...

[soulpatch]

I do need to nuke some more aiptasia though. the 2 or 3 peppermint shrimp I had bought havent been seen since introduction to the tank. With a melenarus wrasse, trigger, and a tusk in there I bet they were expensive snacks...

[davocean]

Originally Posted by homer1475

I think the popping and releasing spores is way overblown.
.

I agree, read that as well a while back, I popped tons at one point and ran a sock, later I got emeralds from reefcleaners, problem solved, for the bubble algae anyway.

[timfederwitz]

Originally Posted by ReefWreak

For google photo (this is how I do it, anyway):

photos.google.com to load up your photos/albums
Click on the image you want to share
When it is fullscreen, in the top right is the share icon (leftmost icon)
click "Get Link" (bottom icons, top row, right side)
Click link and open in another tab
Click image in new tab to make it fullscreen (though this is likely optional)
Right click on image and select "Copy Image Address"
Insert that image address into the RC [ IMG ] system or use their picture insertion link that does it for you.
You can resize the image through modifying the end of the link where it says "w1246-h934-no" the wXXX is the width in pixels, and the hXXX is the height in pixels. You can change it to whatever you want, just keep the aspect ratio the same (use windows/mac calculator if you want to know what multiple to adjust it by; the image below is downscaled to 667x500. In my tank thread I mentioned the normal scale I adjust it by, I think it's somewhere around 900x700 or something? If you right click the pictures in my thread and look at the URL you'll see the sizes there.).

I know it's a pain, but it's easier for me because my life revolves around google at this point. Between google and the economist, I'm set

Man, I have been out of touch lately on RC, but should be getting back into it now since I am looking to get a much larger tank and have a lot of research to do. LOL ... I guess you could say I was away trying to make all the money I need for the new big tank.

Thanks for this guide on Google Photos ReefWreak! I have to believe there is a way to slightly shorten this process, and maybe even add some automation through scripting. I may have a go at doing just that at some point in the not-too-distant future. However, I use a Mac and some 3rd party tools around automation, so it may not apply to all.

Again, thanks for the breakdown of steps!

[ReefWreak]

Originally Posted by timfederwitz

Thanks for this guide on Google Photos ReefWreak! I have to believe there is a way to slightly shorten this process, and maybe even add some automation through scripting. I may have a go at doing just that at some point in the not-too-distant future. However, I use a Mac and some 3rd party tools around automation, so it may not apply to all.

Again, thanks for the breakdown of steps!

Happy to help. Sorry I don't have a more automated process. I think the issue is that you have to go through the steps to set up the linked photo, which effectively makes a public album for the photo, so that you can then share it. I don't think currently you can set some photos to public and some photos to private. Maybe if you make a specific album that is public or something it's easier? But then you'd just have to remember to parse out which photos go to public or private albums, etc.

Lots of ways to do it, let me know if you find a simpler/more streamline process. I'm all about process efficiency!

[soulpatch]

So I have gone through 2 courses of bubble algae removal thus far. The last one I drained into a sock in the sump which was super easy and wish I thought about it the first time. I am going through the tank in patches as I quickly get bored with the cleaning and I start to see other things I want to work on.

I got in a pin point salinity probe and calibrated it over the weekend. I was suprised i was slightly lower then expected salinity wise in the tank. I was 1.025 and I thought I was 1.026.

I finally got back to testing my alk/calc last night and got in a nitrate test kit so I can track that. My alk came in at 7.5 which is not bad but I want to run at 8 or so for my alk. My calcium was pretty much on point though I will monitor it as I turned up my calcium reactor slightly to bring up alk. Someone really needs a reliable monitor out ASAP for a decent price. I keep looking at the coralvue one for 600 but I still think that is a bit much for monitor only.

[ReefWreak]

I hadn't seen these alkalinity monitors out yet, thanks for pointing me to the Coralvue. Very cool that they're finally reaching production levels, I wonder what the reviews of them are.

Quite price though at ~$0.78 per day for reagent... ($35/45 day reagent refill). $600 upfront + $280 for a year supply...

I'm glad the sock/sump siphon method worked out. I need to do another course of removal in my tank too, I'm seeing the algae grow back again, even though I've added 2 more emerald crabs. But at least my coral coloration is beyond amazing for the first time in 2 years. I can't wait till I can have a tank large enough for biological control of pests...

[soulpatch]

one is going to have to pay a small premium for constant testing. I think most get that going in but it saves us hassle of manually testing and I would assume other brands regeant would likely work as well.

Figure I spend $35 to have it run for a month and a half post making changes then turn it off for a bit only to turn it back on later. I am sure as others come online like the alktronic discussed here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2643204 and other big brands that prices will drop considerably.

That all said I have over 1500 in my calcium reactor and run at about $50 a year in all media so $30 a month in regeant is not too bad if I can get the growth and color I want while keeping my tank as hands off as possible. I will pay a bit for that luxury...

[ReefWreak]

Yeah, that's a really interesting system, I'll have to do more reading. Great idea running it only maybe quarterly or less though, just to dial-in the system. I guess if it's keeping thousands of organisms comfortable and growing, it's a worthwhile investment.

Too bad nobody is local, we could rotate ownership of a module a few weeks per quarter at a time and split the cost lol.

It's all just a drop in the bucket, and as much as I've been saving, it'll ever be enough to fill my 265g+ system if/when that ever happens...

At least there are cool new toys to play with when the tank gets built.

[soulpatch]

I mean I spend around the same yearly for salt...

And yes when you are trying to grow out frags you got that are worth at least $100 for every frag you grow it "pays" for itself if you can increase output in the tank. Yes I could manually test as I do now but I get bad at that and skip time which can cause flucuations.

[soulpatch]

Order placed today with my fish guy for a copperband and a starry blenny. He should get them in next week then they go through 5 weeks of QT in his QT tank before coming to me. He does copper and such in his tanks which I like and ensures all fish are eating.

I just like that I dont have to do the work and I have seen his QT setup that all new fish go through before he will sell (well unless he knows you also have a QT then you can get it early as he doesn't want his young store associated with disease)

I also cranked up the calcium reactor the other day and am now at alk of 8. I need to monitor it to ensure I dont climb too high but it is where I want it to be.

And OMG how did I wait soo long to get a salinity monitor. This pinpoint monitor is awesome. Sure I still have my refractometers to double check some things as needed but the pinpoint is AWESOME.

[ReefWreak]

Do you see your salinity move enough in the 150 to justify having a monitor? I can see in the little tank, when dosing 2 part, it being an issue (it's something I struggle with), but in a larger tank with a calcium reactor, I wouldn't think it's as big a deal. Also I can't imagine it being much easier than a refractometer either. Curious observers want to know why it's an improvement!

[soulpatch]

It is called a monitor but I use it for spot checking. I could leave it in the tank should I wish I guess.

The unit I dip the probe into the water and wait a minute for it to self temp adjust to the tank or my mixing station and give me the salinity. With the refractometers I have to have seperate ones for the tank and mixing stations or recalibrate for the temp diferences as I do not heat my mixing station.

Just the ability to put it in the water and get an exact reading without having to look at the blue line in the refractometer that will drift slightly given time is super nice.