Learning/rebuilding from my epic fail

[reefmutt]

Originally Posted by Rick55555

Stunning tank, Matt.

I apologize in advance if you already addressed this and I missed it, but how are you preventing the siporax from turning into a detritus trap? Do you simply shake the siporax containers regularly?

Thanks,
Rick

Hey Rick, thanks! No apologies necessary. There are two pumps that pull from my main sump. One returns to the display and the other to the left hand side system - where the biological is. It is pretty slow flowing.
The water that makes it to my main sump, for the most part goes through a slow moving sump, then through the skimmer section, then through a filter sock before it gets taken back to the biological side. The pump also has a sponge filter on the intake. So, not a lot of detritus makes it over there.. some very fine stuff must.. this is all a preamble to the fact that I do absolutely nothing to the siporax and matrix. I haven’t touched it in almost two years.
I should mention that when I added all of this biological media, it had absolutely no effect on nutrient reduction whatsoever.. but hey.. now it’s a solid bacterial bed, so I just leave it alone.

Originally Posted by SawCJack00

Beautiful!

Thank you, Bill!

[markalot]

Wow great pics, great update!

[reefmutt]

Thanks Mark!

[Rick55555]

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Hey Rick, thanks! No apologies necessary. There are two pumps that pull from my main sump. One returns to the display and the other to the left hand side system - where the biological is. It is pretty slow flowing.
The water that makes it to my main sump, for the most part goes through a slow moving sump, then through the skimmer section, then through a filter sock before it gets taken back to the biological side. The pump also has a sponge filter on the intake. So, not a lot of detritus makes it over there.. some very fine stuff must.. this is all a preamble to the fact that I do absolutely nothing to the siporax and matrix. I haven’t touched it in almost two years.
I should mention that when I added all of this biological media, it had absolutely no effect on nutrient reduction whatsoever.. but hey.. now it’s a solid bacterial bed, so I just leave it alone.

That explains why it looks so clean and how you're able to refrain from shaking/cleaning it. This is definitely food for thought. Thanks!

[shih87]

Looks awesome. What is your alkalinity for now? Was 6.7? What is your target NO3 value? Mine rise up to 5ppm from 0.2 ppm, coral seems ok and like it but I try to drop back to ULNS.

[gregkn73]

Originally Posted by shih87

Mine rise up to 5ppm from 0.2 ppm, coral seems ok and like it but I try to drop back to ULNS.

If corals like it,why are you going back to ulns?

[reefmutt]

Originally Posted by shih87

Looks awesome. What is your alkalinity for now? Was 6.7? What is your target NO3 value? Mine rise up to 5ppm from 0.2 ppm, coral seems ok and like it but I try to drop back to ULNS.

Thanks, Shih! Alkalinity fluctuates between 6.5 and 7 usually. I always try to get it to around 7 but I struggle to keep it that high..
my target for no3 is higher than 3 and below 10..
lately, it dropped below 1 and a few corals really paled out. I reduced the photoperiod on my fuge and increased kno3 additions, so I will hopefully test today to see where I am at now..
If your corals are acclimated to ulns and it works for you, I see no point in keeping nutrients higher.. if it’s easy for you to lower them.. I find I really have to push the system to its limits- really wet skimming, extended fuge photoperiod, lots of carbon dosing, lowered quantity of food- to get nutrients very low and ultimately, my corals aren’t that happy.. so I find my corals are happier and it is easier for me to have just low n.. po4? Well.. I just barely seem to have control of that.. sitting at around .2.. anyways the corals are fine with it so I’m not going crazy trying to lower it..

[shih87]

Originally Posted by gregkn73

If corals like it,why are you going back to ulns?

Good point!!!
Well, when NO3 at 5ppm, only coral like it, I don't. When it is ULNS, both coral and I like it (for me, it is the bright color I like at ULNS, but again, beauty belong to the eye of the beholder!? I guess...)

[reefmutt]

Here’s a little update..
Got alk up to 7-7.3 so that’s good. Ca reactor is loaded with co2..
I’ve gotten my n up to around 2 ppm which I like and p??
Well..
Ulr egg- .16
Po4 egg- .12
Red Sea test - .08
Again.. take your pick... whichever one it is, it is certainly still going down.
I am back up using 1 capful of the brightwell lanthanum chloride per day.
If p drops any lower, I will reduce the the amount of LC dosing.. I’d like to get somewhere around .08, I think..
Maybe try to get n up a bit closer to 5 ish..
Here’s a fish eye fts for fun..

And a little macro.. pacman



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[Ucantwin]

Matt, how do you feel your rate of growth is?

[reefmutt]

I would say generally mediocre..
Some good but generally below average.
I attribute this mostly to the fact that my tank has never gone more than 6 months without either an alk crash or jump, or similar nutrient yo-yo..
My main goal is to keep things pretty much right where they are right now..
After 6-10 weeks of stability is when I see things begin to move- when dormant corals begin to bud..

[watchguy123]

Well I’m impressed by your lanthanum chloride results. I expected that you might see some fish struggle/succumb, even some layering of precipitate on your glass, and probable lowering of alkalinity. But alas, it sounds like all is very well. Congrats. You seemed to have successfully avoided the pitfalls of LC dosing. I’m not sure exactly why but it’s great that no problems have developed.

[reefmutt]

Originally Posted by watchguy123

Well I’m impressed by your lanthanum chloride results. I expected that you might see some fish struggle/succumb, even some layering of precipitate on your glass, and probable lowering of alkalinity. But alas, it sounds like all is very well. Congrats. You seemed to have successfully avoided the pitfalls of LC dosing. I’m not sure exactly why but it’s great that no problems have developed.

Hey Mark, thanks.
In fact, I think it has had a measurable effect on lowering alk but not a dramatic one..
As to effects on the fish, where I dose the LC, it must first mix into a 30 gallon slow moving sump, then go through the skimmer compartment, then fall through a filter sock- into the main sump before (if that much remains) going back up to the display. I use one capful of Brightwell’s phosphate e for my 350 gallon system - I think that’s about 10ml.
I don’t think the fish really come into contact with any significant concentration of LC..
When I dump in that capful, there is not even any cloudiness developing at the point of contact with tank water.
I assume the reason I am not having any dramatic side effects- just as Mark (markalot) didn’t, is simply because of the low dosage..

[Karchevsky]

Great results! Your experience is very interesting, I’ll follow for you tank.


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[FloformAustria]

MAN MATT the fish eye shot is just amazing!!

thanks for sharing!!

Cheers

[Pife]

Looking at your fts and your corals are filling in beautifully. How many fish do you have in there?

[codydemmel4]

looks great Matt!

[reefmutt]

Originally Posted by Karchevsky

Great results! Your experience is very interesting, I’ll follow for you tank.


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Thanks! I hope they continue to be positive.

Originally Posted by FloformAustria

MAN MATT the fish eye shot is just amazing!!

thanks for sharing!!

Cheers

Hey Flo, thanks! It’s a fun lens

Originally Posted by Pife

Looking at your fts and your corals are filling in beautifully. How many fish do you have in there?

Hey Brandon, I’m not sure how many fish.. around 23..
I am definitely running out of space.. many are growing ok but several are still sloooooooooow..
I’ve removed 3 colonies lately. A big 24k, a rr Red diablo and a another in that red diablo, Red Robin family. They grow so quickly in my tank and they are lethal. The either grow over or burn practically any other acro they encounter.
I think I’ll frag up that rr red Diablo. It’s nice but I’m leaning more towards cold colors than the hot colors for the tank...

Originally Posted by codydemmel4

looks great Matt!

Thanks Cody!

[markalot]

Wow, love the last set of pics. I love every set of pics actually, but the wide angle shots really show just how cool your tank looks.

@FloformAustria

There's a new tag? Mention? I'm using it to bug Flo.

[FloformAustria]

wth @markalot

something new!

Cheers

[markalot]

Originally Posted by FloformAustria

wth @markalot

something new!

Cheers

lol, someone mentioned me!

[GSMclowns]

Beautiful tank.
You got a list of all the fishes current in the tank now?

[Wrangy]

Nice to hear things are getting back under control Matt! The tank is looking just stunning!

[TJM_Corals]

Looking good matt I got alot of reading to catch up on this thread

[reefmutt]

Hey everybody! I really haven’t been around much lately- haven’t been keeping up..
over a month ago, a good, old friend from highschool died suddenly, which threw me for a loop.. really puts things into focus, in a real acute way.. was very sad..
And then last week my car was stolen with all my work stuff in it so again, a little preoccupied..
Unfortunately, I really never finished my experiment with lanthanum chloride. I stopped using it a few weeks ago because I didn’t like how low my all was getting. It has been at or pretty near 5 for weeks. I increased my kalk dosing last week and now it’s up to 5.4 ish.
Thenlowering alk was the only real drawback from using lanthanum chloride- for me..
I have not tested nutrients in about a month.. maybe 3 weeks. Not sure..
I did start using a few drops of AF NP pro per day when I stopped LC..
One of these days, I’ll test nutrients..
So, here’s a photo dump. I took these pics last night with all lights on- led/t5/mh.. no editing at all.. right off the camera.. not my best but that’s ok for now..
Here goes.. I guess I’ll go wide to macro..
Oh... and I felt like using photo bucket this time.. don’t know why..