LEDs picked up an 8ft 240RR needs work

[Scutterborn]

Good for you! It's surprising how much detritus can accumulate so quickly, isn't it?


- Ben -

[BBQHILLBILLY]

I have pulled enough LR and LR rubble out of the sump to fill up the 55 gallon 1/3 . There was a bunch of detritus on the bottom of the sump. never again.:bigsmile:
Now to pull more LR from the display. My nitrates should be doing really good after a couple more sw changes.

[Scutterborn]

Wait a minute...

Your planning to lower your nitrates by removing more of your biological filter?


- Ben -

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Just the clutter rocks. Im not changing my refugium. way too much life there. In the display clearing clutter rocks. Plenty of biological filtration.
I am trying to increase the amount of total sw in the tank too, though. The tangs will be staying and they are not getting smaller.
Everything is moving to the temp 55, until I figure what to do with it.

[Scutterborn]

I understand the need for swimming room. I'm just concerned that you will pull to much causing a mini cycle. The nitrifying bacteria colonizes on the surface area of the rock and sand. To remove too much rock at one time could overload the remaining bacteria and kick off a mini cycle.


- Ben -

[BBQHILLBILLY]

10-4, ill pause a bit here and see what happens, next goal is to go after the engineers, some big ones too

[Zack]

Ben, couldn't he dose with microbactor7 or other bacteria sources or even prime to help offput the loss of bacteria?

[Scutterborn]

Yes, Zach. However, patience is free and works better! :)


- Ben -

[BBQHILLBILLY]

I have plenty of LR in the tank, should be fine, thank you

[Zack]

Yes, Zach. However, patience is free and works better! :)


- Ben -

Lol true true man.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

1 engineer out to the LFS, 3 more to go, their digging to the bottom of the dsb

[BBQHILLBILLY]

checklist for goal of 0 nitrates

1. get better skimmer - done - Bubble Magus NAC9
2. clean sump/refugium - done cleaned other than refugium
3. increase sw per fish - in progress selling LR
4. remove engineers damaging dsb - done
5. reduce quantity of food - done
6. double closed loop flow with a 3600 dart upgrade instead 1800 blueline - soon
7. after all that pellet reactor - REEF OCTOPUS soon sicce 10 pump
8. activate monster carbon reactor - soon sicce 10 pump
9. increase flow in sump/refugium - done sicce 10 pump
10. continue frequent sw changes until all is done

[BBQHILLBILLY]

sicce 10 has been added to control ALL reactors and move sw in sump/refugium
still have the mag 18 for return so these pumps may get swapped for job duties

[BBQHILLBILLY]

finally, skimmer came in pic, chose the bubble magus nac9 - rated over 300 gallons and very nice footprint and affordable, setup at lunch time and allready pulling gunk out
also picked up a little test kit
only time will tell if will does better than the hurricone that I had. It worked good with a psk2500.
next goal pellet reactor

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bubble-magus-bm-nac9-cone-protein-skimmer.html

www.bubble-magus.com (http://www.bubble-magus.com)

[BBQHILLBILLY]

http://www.maast.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20961&d=1370911344

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Replaced the mag 18 to the SICCE 10, lol. WOW. incredible flow, had to turn it down. Should have no problem using the reactors with it and sump return.
only 150 WATTS. nice

heres their website

http://www.sicceus.com/aquarium.html

[Big_Pun]

just make sure you understand bio pellets before using them... lots people complain about them but its mostly from improper set ups and flow and not understanding they are a bacteria filter, and not like gfo or carbon and absorb stuff.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Never used pellets. The reviews I have read are good and for tanks with a lot of fish, it appears to allmost be recommended.
From I have read, on reactors carbon and gfo are 1cup per 50 gallons. Pellet reactor will remove phosphates so no need for gfo.
How much pellets? start small so maybe 1 cup and as it depletes then add 2 cups, etc . . .
Any tips on pellets Im listening?

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Looking at the REEF OCTOPUS Bio Pellet Reactor 140 ? any reviews from current users lmk heres the link

http://www.reefoctopus.com.au/v2/pub/products.cfm?range=3DC86FFB-B3A8-8936-62843856A0795437

[Big_Pun]

sorry to burst your bubble but i did a thread on pellets and phosphates as well as stated, those are old articles. i still have to run gfo with my pellets, and i still run a fuge with cheato. all the extra filtration is back up to eachother. what one lacks the other picks up.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Thanks for the feedback, thats good to know, i guess its good I held on to the monster reactor to run carbon and gfo, and a separate RO pellet reactor

[BBQHILLBILLY]

adding some important links so I dont lose them, lol, looking for good threads on gfo, carbon, pellet reactors, etc . . .lmk

http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?70686-Lowest-cost-and-easiest-way-to-eliminate-green-hair-bubble-turf-and-slime-algae

http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?77043-Sulphur-denitrator-for-large-setup

http://algaescrubber.net/forums/

[BBQHILLBILLY]

chaeto is very green but growing slow with the T5 6700K. going to Lowes today to try a 6500K cfl bulb . I will be hoping to double the size of the chaeto in the reufgium.

actually have a 10000K and 6700K on the T5 chaeto light. May see if I can find a 5000K T5 light down at the store to replace the 10000K bulb.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Here is some room that I have for an algae scrubber. any ideas are appreciated:bigsmile:

[BBQHILLBILLY]

http://www.maast.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=21062&d=1372032188

[footballdude2k3]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1977420&highlight=algae+scrubber

That is the thread I went through when I was thinking about adding one.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000053F9J/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That is the light that I have above my sump, great growth so far on the cheato

[BBQHILLBILLY]

wow found another link about the algae turf scrubbers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsVEVUfVtcM

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Phosphate Export by Organisms: Macroalgae
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Growing and harvesting macroalgae can be a very effective way to reduce phosphate levels (along with other nutrients) in reef aquaria. In my reef system, where I have large, lit refugia to grow the macroalgae Caulerpa racemosa and Chaetomorpha sp., these algae are clearly the largest phosphate export mechanisms. Aquaria with large amounts of thriving macroalgae can avoid microalgae problems or excessive phosphate levels that might inhibit coral calcification. Whether the reduction in phosphate is the cause of the microalgae reduction is not obvious; other nutrients can also become limiting. But to reef aquarists with a severe microalgae problem, the exact mechanism may make no difference. If rapidly growing macroalgae absorb enough phosphorus to keep the orthophosphate concentrations in the water column acceptably low, and at the same time keep microalgae under control, most reefkeepers will be satisfied.

For those interested in knowing how much phosphorus is being exported by macroalgae, this free PDF article in the journal Marine Biology has some important information. It gives the phosphorus and nitrogen content for nine different species of macroalgae, including many that reefkeepers typically maintain. For example, Caulerpa racemosa collected off Hawaii contains about 0.08 % phosphorus by dry weight and 5.6% nitrogen. Harvesting 10 grams (dry weight) of this macroalgae from an aquarium would be the equivalent of removing 24 mg of phosphate from the water column. That amount is the equivalent of reducing the phosphate concentration from 0.2 ppm to 0.1 ppm in a 67-gallon aquarium. All of the other species tested gave similar results (plus or minus a factor of two). Interestingly, using the same paper's nitrogen data, this would also be equivalent to reducing the nitrate content by 2.5 grams, or 10 ppm in that same 67-gallon aquarium.

and the source

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1610914

[350gt]

No room for error in that sump.....

Aren't you worried about the return pump giving out?

[BBQHILLBILLY]

7ft of awesomeness. Here are some awesome pics with changes. The size of this refugium is bigger than most display tanks.
Decided to go ahead and attempt to increase the size of the chaeto. Here are some cool pics of the monster 7ft refugium and sump.
In the next couple of weeks I will be trying to find the best macroalgae light for chaeto.
Chaeto will fill the 1st chamber and the 3rd chamber.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

No room for error in that sump.....

Aren't you worried about the return pump giving out?


Why worry about a return pump when you have closed loop. The closed loop is awesomeness by itself.

If the SICCE10 goes out, the lfs has many return pumps. Now may not be a SICCE10 but plenty of other choices.

[Big_Pun]

think he was talking about a power outage, and sump over flowing??

so why does a huge sump work better than a smaller one?

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Hey Chris I think Tony was thinking about running everything, reactors and return off 1 pump, SICCE 10. fyi not overflowing here, with power outage
I thought it was a cool idea only 150 watts, and I can, if wanting too, do that. Right now the SICCE10 is actually creating more flow back to the return of the sump/refugium.
By increasing more macroalgae, AND a bigger refugium, im hoping to help decrease more nitrates from the large tangs I have.
lol Im putting chaeto everywhere, and may also try to run a refugium on top of the refugium. So far have not used 1 reactor , YET.

[350gt]

Exactly what I meant Chris, it looks like a inch or 2 away from a water disaster....

With the summer now here and cps, I would think that the sump is filled too high...

Unless its enough to compensate?

[350gt]

I would like to add another fuge, I like mine....

Hey Shane what about a mangrove fuge.... I thought about trying one out.... I have 1 mangrove and he is doing well under my tank but needs more room to stretch...

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Its all good, after the flood of 210RR, Im not having another. I got this one. lol:bigsmile:

[BBQHILLBILLY]

I would like to add another fuge, I like mine....

Hey Shane what about a mangrove fuge.... I thought about trying one out.... I have 1 mangrove and he is doing well under my tank but needs more room to stretch...

Thank you for the offer. Mangroves sound neat. The mangrove leaf can not decay in the sw. may be a problem. Not sure if I want to look for leaves.
I may go with a 2nd floor refugium with dragons breathe.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

I know nothing about mangroves. lol The more I read on mangroves, the more I like it. In some case from what I read, they can replace the skimmer. hmmm
Tony does the offer still exists? I have to put it in a cup of some sort. lmk If I could replace the skimmer. yes sir. Tooony lol
can they be pruned? If I get a 2nd floor on the sump, can they be pruned, to keep them small. lmk

[BBQHILLBILLY]

hmm from what I read I need a permit to trim mangroves. may not be a good idea. lmk

[Big_Pun]

hmm from what I read I need a permit to trim mangroves. may not be a good idea. lmk

you can buy them online!

[BBQHILLBILLY]

and

[Big_Pun]

and

no permit needed

[Madfragger]

South seas sells ora mangroves for $19

[BBQHILLBILLY]

nice, thats good to know, South Sea is right around the corner from here.
Is it possible to remove the skimmer?

[Madfragger]

I personally have never used them, so I can't speak from experience. I have heard that they are great for nitrates and like cheato will not release the nitrates back into your system if it dies.

[Madfragger]

They do need a lot of room to grow because they are trees. With the limited space under my stand I've never given them a try, but I've heard they can be trimmed just like you would with any plant that's getting out of control. There's a lot of people in the SW world that swear by them and there is a lot of info if you goggle them or look on youtube

[BBQHILLBILLY]

In an effort to help remove the nitrates and go green
looks like I will be moving the 2nd chamber (skimmer) to the 3rd chamber.
Ill have to clean the refug and move the chaeto to the 1st and 2nd chambers and skimmer is now the 3rd.
This opens the door for the algae scrubber. Maybe 2nd floor algae scrubber above the chaeto.
Eventually may not need chaeto.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

ILL BE BACK. TO BE CONTINUED . . . .:bigsmile:

[Gseclipse02]

no more nitrate issues i take it .... jp you going to fix the 240 ?

[BBQHILLBILLY]

I would like too. This wont be a quick turnaround. We will see.

[Gseclipse02]

you going to put a closed loop again ??

personally i would like to see what kind of drill forevr pets uses to drill holes

[BBQHILLBILLY]

and curious, how it just happened no more DSBs or monster LRs, thats for sure

[footballdude2k3]

If you decide to put that stuff back in, I would use eggcrate on the bottom, that would prevent a pressure point on the glass if that is what caused it.